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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2022 with funding from 
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https://archive.org/details/thingsmostsurelyOOverk_0 


“THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


By 
GERRIT VERKUYL, Ph.D. 


“THINGS MOST SURELY 

BELIEVED ” $1.50 

DEVOTIONAL LEADERSHIP 
Private Preparation for Public 
Worship. 

SCRIPTURE MEMORY 

WORK (GRADED) $1.00 


ect CEI 


ie aa 
vr i MNOS s, 


VA 
“Things Most SoH 2 
Beheyed? ois is 


A Study in Christian Essentials for 
Growing Workers 


By 
GERRIT VERKUYL, Px. D.; D.D. 


Field-Representative, Presbyterian Pas of 
Christian Education 


Author of ‘‘ Scripture Memory Work, Graded,”’ ‘‘ Devotional 
Leadership,” etc. 





New YorE CHICAGO 


Fleming H. Revell Company 


LONDON AND EDINBURGH 


Copyright, McMxxvI, by 
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 


New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave. 
London: 21 Paternoster Square 
Edinburgh: 75 Princes Street 


FOREWORD TO TEACHERS AND 
STUDENTS 


ANY young people feel religiously per- 
M plexed. They want to live right and 

desire to know the truth that should 
guide their conduct. In a more serious manner 
than Pilate they are asking, ‘‘ What is truth? ” 
Some of them fear to think their questions 
through; lest they might come to deny teachings 
that were imparted to them. Others have never 
been taught the great principles of Christian life. 
These form the great majority. 

This feeling of uncertainty is not confined to 
youth; it reaches our maturer workers. Their 
parents, possibly, did not instruct them in religion. 
The teachings in the Sunday school were in the 
hands of lay-workers, good of character but 
versed neither in Bible knowledge nor in human 
nature. In spite of this great handicap our ma- 
turer workers are called upon to instruct a 
younger generation; while our Christian youth, 
too, is facing the challenge of those still younger, 
whose leaders they soon must be. 

Intelligent Christians are seeking reasons for 
their faith. Peculiar fads and cults play havoc 


with a few of them. It sometimes happens that 
5 j 
/ 


6 FOREWORD 


insidious teachings befog their minds and lead 
them far afield, purely for want of knowledge re- 
garding the true teachings of their own church. 
Had they but known, they would certainly have 
remained with us as builders of God’s Kingdom. 
But they were not well informed; they could give 
no sufficient reason for their faith. We lost them. 
Perhaps we deserved to lose them. It is the 
sacred duty of the Christian Church to instruct 
her members in the way of truth, and it is the 
sacred right of all church members to receive need- 
ful instruction. 

We may as well confess, however, to a fatal 
scarcity of literature on the subject, couched in 
language sufficiently popular and put into compass 
brief enough to arouse and maintain the interest 
of those who are not theologically trained. There 
are available a few pamphlets and booklets of 
divisive trend. But the great essentials of the 
Christian faith, on which the whole Church agrees 
and which would answer the questions of inquir- 
ing hearts, these vital teachings have not been 
sufficiently broadcasted to reach our growing 
workers. 

One reason for this failure lies on the surface. 
Christian teachers as well as Christian students 
are ranked somewhere among our denominations. 
He would be a peculiar Christian, indeed, and 
scarcely qualified to teach the principles of Chris- 
tianity, who could not be designated as a member 


FOREWORD ff 


of some church. Yet, for the member of one de- 
nomination to instruct members of other denomina- 
tions in the essentials of Christian doctrine is a 
most delicate task. Nevertheless, it is becoming 
ever clearer that not merely the need for such in- 
struction exists, but that the need is growingly 
felt. 

This manual is an attempt along this line. We 
believe that we are presenting nothing controver- 
sial from an evangelical point of view. These 
lessons may be taught without fear of offence in 
single churches and in interdenominational classes. 
We have not written what we have not under- 
stood; hence our confidence that these writings 
will be understood. We have not written what we 
have not lived; hence our assurance that these 
writings, too, will live and will be lived. 

The scarcity of popular material has proved a 
handicap in the selecting of books for further re- 
search. Some of the books recommended at the 
end of chapters are somewhat difficult to secure. 
We suggest that four or five be selected from the 
entire group, either to be recommended to the 
public library, or purchased by the group that 
pursues this course. 

In teaching these lessons there is likely to be 
difference of opinion now and then. The leader 
will do wisely if he or she refrains from impos- 
ing his opinions on the group, and allows free ex- 
pression. It is quite possible that subjects on 


8 FOREWORD 


which good Christian people disagree are not as 
vital and essential as we had thought. Altogether, 
the sense of unity will be advanced by means of 
these lessons. The members of the great Evan- 
gelical Church, that is, the body of all believers 
whose Gospel centers on Christ as presented in 
John 3:16, these are much nearer to each other 
than usually they suspect. 

Every growing Christian needs to form for him- 
self a system of truth for a background in all his 
work and teaching. This system of truth is con- 
tained in the Word of God; but it must be searched 
with diligence and prayer. In brief compass these 
twelve lessons will help earnest lay-students to 
secure a unified presentation of our Christian 
teachings; which will help them to think and un- 
derstand for themselves first; then to live their 
convictions; then to guide others in true Christian 
ways. 

Suggestions for the enrichment of these chap- 
ters are cordially invited. We keenly feel the im- 
perfections of our endeavor. 

G. V. 

Oak Park, Ii. 


Contents 


ORGANIZING Our KNOWLEDGE } 
Views REGARDING GOD AND THE WORLD 
Wuy Fair in Gop? 
THE TRIUNE BEING . 


THe PErRsoN AND WorRK OF Jesus 
CHRIST . a aah ih d 


THe Worp oF Gop . 
Man’s ORIGIN AND NATURE 
SALVATION : 
THE CHRISTIAN Pha 
THe CHRISTIAN VIRTUES 
Wor.Lp LEADERSHIP . 

Lire EVERLASTING 


11 
28 
45 
61 


76 
91 


SLOSS 
. 124 
ALS? 
eld, 
il72 
, 202 





I 
ORGANIZING OUR KNOWLEDGE 


4 ie live is to believe. The two words are 
from the same stem and they must co- 
exist, at least in the case of reasonable 
beings. Our belief may be negative; we may 
deny. Or it may be positive; we may accept cer- 
tain ideas as truths. We may believe that beyond 
and behind this visible world there are spiritual 
forces and personalities; or we may deny all that. 
In either case, we hold to a certain belief. And 
according to that belief we act. If we believe 
that the greatest experience in life is to love God, 
and the next greatest to love our neighbor as our- 
selves, then we will act quite differently from the 
man who believes there is no God, and that his 
neighbor has no soul. 

But suppose we do believe in God and in a spir- 
itual world as basic to the things we see; then we 
may still hold any of a myriad various views about 
the facts and the relationships of that unseen 
world. Actually, through the ages many peoples 
have thought of spiritual matters in vastly differ- 
ent ways. To-day even in so-called Christian 


countries the opinions on matters of doctrine are 
11 


12 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


legion. They cannot be limited even to the num- 
bers of churches and sects that have arisen; be- 
cause every individual is entitled to his own opin- 
ion and is inclined to exercise that right. 


Freedom of Belief 


There was a time when individual opinion on 
religious matters was officially suppressed. <A 
group of men had formulated a body of doctrine 
which they declared to be the only truth. Devia- 
tion from that teaching was proclaimed as false- 
hood, destructive to the soul and therefore to be 
prohibited. The simplest and surest way of car- 
rying that plan into effect with any measure of 
success was for the majority to burn, to drown, to 
hang, or to decapitate the erring minority. This 
was accordingly done. The whole of Spain, with 
most of Italy and France, is now of one faith be- 
cause of just such methods. Those of different 
opinion were either banished or killed. In prin- 
ciple this suppressive method was applied also in 
most Protestant countries. ‘“‘ Like prince, like 
people,” was the universal motto. The ruler who 
turned Anglican expected his people to turn with 
him. The prince who adhered to the Lutheran 
faith demanded that confession of his subjects. It 
was the same where the Reformed creed held 
sway; with one exception. William the Silent, 
born in a Lutheran home, reared at a Roman 
Court, and converted to the Reformed faith, pro- 


ORGANIZING OUR KNOWLEDGE § 13 


claimed the solitary teaching, ‘‘ Let every man be 
free to worship God according to the dictates of 
his own conscience.” So far was he ahead of his 
times that not another ruler followed him. Even 
the Pilgrim colonists, that settled in our country, 
had not caught his spirit. But when at last our 
Fathers wrote the Constitution of our Common- 
wealth, that principle became forever established 
in our land. Each individual is entitled to his own 
religious belief and to its free expression. 


Belief and Knowledge 


Belief is not invariably knowledge. We may 
believe what is not true. There is an element of 
danger in belief until it has grown into knowledge. 
To believe that a bridge is safe and to attempt 
passing over it may mean disaster if that bridge 
is untrustworthy. To believe that, even if there 
were a God, He would not be concerned with our 
daily affairs, will make us plan our lives on a less 
Christian basis than if we believe that a loving 
Father cares for us with a heart of overflowing 
love. We are bound to believe something, and it 
makes a vast difference in our conduct whether we 
believe in accordance with facts. 

Belief may be based on knowledge; or it may 
grow into knowledge. The soul that has experi- 
ence with God has faith, which is no longer opin- 
ion. Its basis is knowledge. But the soul that 
finds a truth and tries it out, will also learn to 


14 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


identify faith and knowledge; for that truth is 
alive in his living. The first purpose of these 
lessons is to center our thoughts on those vital 
principles of life that have already stood the test 
among men, and whereby great lives have been 
steadily molded. 

With this goes a second purpose, equally vital, 
to view these truths which we believe and know, 
as one united system. 


The Unity of Christian Truth 


Most of us have in the process of reading the 
Bible, in our preparations for Christian teaching, 
in the perusal of secular books and magazines, and 
in attendance at religious gatherings grown ac- 
quainted with numerous facts of religious signifi- 
cance. Almost unconsciously we have absorbed 
certain vital truths that have meant much to us 
and that will forever mean much to us. Rela- 
tively few of us have been led, however, to gather 
up these truths of life and to organize them into a 
body of truth, a harmonious system that will 
serve for a philosophy of life, authoritative enough 
and also comprehensive enough to govern our daily 
actions. This course is planned to help you do 
this exceedingly wholesome thing. 

So far as the number of instructive items is con- 
cerned which from time to time have come under 
our observation, we are probably well enough sup- 
plied with practical suggestions for ordinary living; 


ORGANIZING OUR KNOWLEDGE 15 


but the life of a true follower of Jesus should be 
more than ordinary. Every follower of Christ 
should in some way propagate the teachings of 
Christ. In view of this summons to every Chris- 
tian we may also have gained ability by means of 
reading and by practice in teaching, to convey the 
knowledge of certain facts to others. But a knowl- 
edge of facts, and ability to convey them, do not 
suffice to make either a secular or a sacred teacher. 
One may read most diligently and make it a point 
to remember the minutest details, so that he shall 
be known as a walking encyclopedia; but even this 
will not make him a teacher. Because facts as 
such do not interest anybody; they must first 
concern somebody. Facts in themselves possess 
no right to a person’s interest; they are empty and 
vain without relationships. It is the relationship 
of facts that creates interest; because in these re- 
lationships is the revelation of truth. And these 
interrelations serve to form a system of truth. 


Organic Unity Holds Interest 


If we should analyze a flower, taking it apart 
and examining all its particles—petals, stamens 
and pistils—being able to name these separate 
parts, but not the reason why there should be 
these parts, nor the service each part is rendering 
to each other part, and to the whole flower, and in 
what way each member of this little body helps 
the flower to live and eventually to perpetuate it- 


16 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


self,—if we had names and particles and nothing 
more, we could not with these facts interest either 
the dullest or the brightest student. And the 
trouble would not lie with the student; it would 
lie with us. 


“The primrose by the river's brim 
A yellow primrose was to him, 
And it was nothing more.” 


Should we be able, on the other hand, to point 
out the particular functions of the pistil, its rela- 
tion to the life of the flower and the manner in 
which its service is performed; the protecting 
agencies of the petals and the causes of their color- 
ings; the importance of the stamens with anthers 
and filaments for the furnishing of pollen; if then 
the roots might be considered and the processes 
whereby earth and water are made to minister to 
the life of the plant; by what force the saps defy 
the laws of gravitation and move upward; in what 
marvelous manner the dews of heaven labor to- 
gether with sun and air to produce moisture,—in 
short, how the four primal elements of the uni- 
verse, earth, air, fire and water, are laboring to- 
gether on behalf of that little flower; then what 
student, be he bright or dull, could sit by list- 
lessly! Instead of the blasé Primrose Song, there 
would be heard a rendering of the music of the 
world’s philosophy, as it is hidden in the bosom of 
a little plant. 


ORGANIZING OUR KNOWLEDGE 17 


“ Flower im the crannied wall 
I pluck you out of the crannies; 
Hold you here, root and all, in my hand. 
Little hower—but tf 1 could understand 
What you are, root and all and all in all, 
I should know what God and man is.” 


The Unity in Divine Truth Holds Interest 


This great principle of interest holds true in the 
study of divine truth. Biblical facts atomistically 
presented contain small interest. ‘‘ What’s He- 
cubah to me, or I to Hecubah.” Perchance the 
majority of mature people to whom the Bible 
seems uninteresting have at some period of their 
lives been exposed to continuous bombardments 
with isolated facts. They grew weary of the bom- 
bardment and determined long ago to avoid future 
assailants. Why should it interest anyone, for in- 
stance, that our first parents transgressed; if that 
is a fact by itself without relationship to us! It 
is not necessary for us to turn the pages of a book 
in order to discover the presence of sin. We can 
see sin everywhere about us; we can even find it 
in our own lives. But when we take note of the 
blasting effects of sin in the world, and then re- 
member that first great disobedience in the Gar- 
den, by which the primeval purity of man was 
spoiled as ripening grain is spoiled by mildew on 
a beautiful June morning, then the fact of Adam’s 
fall may challenge our attention. If, further, we 
listen with our first parents to the voice of a seek- 


18 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


ing God, who calls man back from his foolish ways 
and promises salvation through a Redeemer; then, 
surely, we are interested. In some such way that 
one fatal fact so many millenniums back becomes 
part of a great link of facts that goes on and on, 
—downward in one direction where the human 
race sinks ever deeper into sin; and also upward 
in another direction where God so loves the world 
that He gives His Son. 

Or take for another illustration the eating of a 
lamb, which occurred at midnight in the Hebrew 
homes as they were about to leave Egypt. What 
would we ordinarily care about the things those 
people ate? But further investigation shows that 
this did not remain an isolated incident. Year 
after year the faithful Hebrew ate his lamb in 
commemoration of that midnight of the Exodus. 
At last there was a Passover Feast in Jerusalem 
at which ‘“‘ The Lamb” was sacrificed, even the 
Christ, our Saviour. In the light of that sacrifice 
the Pascal lamb of ancient days gains significance. 
To this day we celebrate The Lord’s Supper as a 
memorial of His death, a sacrament inaugurated 
on an evening when the Lord and His disciples sat 
together preparatory for the Jewish Passover. 


Interrelationships Endow Unity with Interest 

These illustrations are profoundly typical. The 
Bible is the Book of Life because it so perfectly 
portrays all life. The history of Israel is essen- 


ORGANIZING OUR KNOWLEDGE 19 


tially the history of every nation. The biogra- 
phies of Sacred Writ are true to human experi- 
ence in all ages. The same laws that made them- 
selves felt in days of long ago are still operative. 
We call this world a universe because in all its 
ramifications there may be observed a harmony of 
laws and a unity of government. All parts of the 
universe are related to each other and are directly 
related to God. The laws of nature show the 
righteousness of God, and they are wonderful. 
But in the unseen world God reveals Himself even 
more wonderfully, because of His forgiveness and 
mercy. ‘The righteousness of God as related to 
His mercy, and both of these converging in our 
divine Redeemer, this comprehensive subject 
forms the most unitary and the most interesting 
lesson in all teaching. To present such truths in 
the light in which God means to place them, this 
is the chief commission of every Christian teacher. 
It affords us our greatest hope for the securing of 
unfagged interest. 


Isolated Facts Occasion Isolated Groups 

Failure to present truths in their interrelation- 
ships has militated not merely against the interest 
which God’s Word would otherwise awaken; but 
it has also served to disturb the feeling of unity 
which is so necessary among disciples of the same 
Lord. The many sects, into which the Christian 
Church has been divided, owe their origin in large 


90 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


measure to pronounced emphases on single state- 
ments in the Bible, without relating these state- 
ments to the complete Bible. This is a dangerous 
and unwarranted procedure. Exactly as the petal 
of a flower, when it has been removed from that 
flower and is no longer thought of in connection 
with that flower, is*no longer a petal, but is refuse 
or dirt, so may it be with an isolated statement 
from God’s Word. It may lose its meaning when 
it is taken out of its setting, or when considered 
in that setting alone. But when a sentence does 
not convey the message that was originally in- 
tended by it, then it conveys a false impression. 
The most precious truths of the Bible may thus be 
turned into lies. 

The story is told of a man, but recently con- 
verted, who was asked to split some wood for the 
kitchen fire. ‘‘ Can’t do it,” he rejoined, “ for ’'m 
a Christian.” Pressed to produce further reason, 
he quoted from the Bible and quoted correctly, 
“What God hath joined together let no man put 
asunder.” The cells and fibres of the tree, which 
God had joined together, he must “ put asunder ” 
if he split up wood for the cook-stove. Yet, in 
spite of the correct quotation and the truth it con- 
tained, his argument was as false as the devil him- 
self. There are religious sects that have little 
more ground to stand on for differing from their 
brethren than had that recent convert. A religious 
genius of our day has pictured a meeting between 


ORGANIZING OUR KNOWLEDGE 21 


blind Bartimaeus and the ‘man who had been 
born blind,” both healed by Jesus, but in such dif- 
ferent ways. Because Jesus had not used mud in 
giving sight to Bartimaeus, the man born blind is 
supposed to have refused his company. Where- 
upon Bartimaeus promptly started a sect of Anti- 
Mudites; while the man born blind became the 
head of the Mudite sect. It is a far-fetched cari- 
cature perhaps—but it has point. In the forming 
of many isolated groups the wonderful harmony 
and unity of divine teaching is woefully over- 
looked. Minor issues are pushed into the fore- 
ground at the expense of the essentials. 


Denominations and Their Emphases 


But what is true of numerous small sects is, in 
a measure, true also of the great denominations. 
Their separation from each other is partly due to 
different temperaments among adherents. It is 
helpful for worshipers of the same type to have 
their devotions together. But this difference of 
type is by no means the only reason for their 
separateness. It is historically known that certain 
devout and learned students of the Bible have 
thoroughly mastered certain great principles of 
the Christian religion, not by means of isolated 
texts, or even from single passages, but rather by 
a study of many parts of the Scriptures, all of 
which parts testified to the supreme sovereignty 
of God. From these leading portions of the Bible 


22 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


they brought together a body of doctrine generally 
known as Calvinistic. But other students of the 
Bible, equally devout and learned, did examine the 
teachings of the Book with equal diligence, seek- 
ing and finding those leading portions that empha- 
sized the free moral agency of man. The results 
of their searchings were gathered into a body of 
doctrine generally known as Arminian. Both doc- 
trines are based on the Word of God; yet, appar- 
ently, they are not in full agreement, and whole 
denominations have been formed in accordance 
with the one doctrine or the other. It never 
seemed to occur to the founders of these denomi- 
nations that both doctrines might be true, and that 
inasmuch as both have adequate testimony from 
the Bible, both ought to be true; nor did they con- 
ceive the very simple idea of combining the two 
doctrines to form a more complete body of doc- 
trine than either alone provided. 


Agreement on Essentials 


It is an encouraging fact that on the essentials 
of the Christian faith all evangelical Churches are 
agreed. Certain ceremonies and rituals are con- 
ducted among them in different ways; they follow 
different plans to reach, receive, and train mem- 
bers; but these differences are of minor import. 
In the great principles of the faith that make for 
repentance, loyalty, and kingdom extension, all 
Christian churches are one, including in a way 


ORGANIZING OUR KNOWLEDGE 23 


even the Greek and Roman hierarchies. These 
agreements do not concern merely religious essen- 
tials; but Christian essentials, and they find for 
the most part brief expression in what is known 
as ‘The Apostles’ Creed.” In more modern lan- 
guage and in the words of Jesus we have these 
great agreements: 

1. The Church accepts Christ’s statement, ‘‘ Ye 
believe in God, believe also in Me,” and “I and 
the Father are one.” This means that Christian 
worshipers bow before God, the Father, and 
Jesus Christ, our Lord. The Evangelical Church 
is not unitarian. 

2. The Church accepts Christ’s promise of “ an- 
other Comforter, even the Spirit of truth.” Hence 
her faith in the Holy Spirit as the third Person of 
the Godhead. The Church is trinitarian. 

3. The Church believes the Golden Text of the 
Bible, (John 3:16) involving the sinfulness of 
mankind, the absolute need of a Saviour, the in- 
finite love of God for the world, the sacrifice of 
the Son of God, and salvation freely offered in the 
Gospel. 

4. The Church hears the admonition of Jesus, 
“* Search the Scriptures,” and believes that the vic- 
tory of His Kingdom is not by the sword, but by 
the Word. She finds herself enjoined to teach the 
Bible with all its applications for to-day. 

5. The Church believes in her own position as 
a divine institution. She remembers that Jesus 


24 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


gathered a group of disciples about Himself and 
trained them. She notes how Jesus spoke of Him- 
self as the Bridegroom, with the Church for His 
Bride; how He called His followers His Breth- 
ren, and prayed for them as He did not pray for 
the world.. 

6. The Church has heard the great Command, 
“Go ye into all the world.” Hence the mission 
spirit of the Church, which involves working to- 
gether in love, training ambassadors that shall be 
commissioned at home and abroad, and spreading 
the knowledge of God’s love everywhere. 

7. The Church hears Jesus say, ‘ Love one an- 
other,” and esteems love the supreme virtue. 

8. The Church takes Jesus at His word when 
He says, ‘‘ He that believeth on me shall never 
die,” and again, ‘‘ I go to prepare a place for you.” 
Hence her unshakable faith in immortality. 


Our Reasonable Faith 


Although through the centuries the Church has 
accepted these outstanding articles of her faith, it 
would not be fair to require of any rational being 
that he accept these tenets on the authority of the 
Church, or even on the authority of the Bible. A 
famous priest of the Roman Church, in speaking 
to a great company of men, not long ago, said, 
“Gentlemen, let me do your thinking for you.” 
The Protestant Reformation four hundred years 
ago came as a protest against that spirit. Prot- 


ORGANIZING OUR KNOWLEDGE 25 


estants insist on thinking for themselves. No 
Church may with impunity shove a Creed, not un- 
derstood, in front of its members saying, “ Take 
this and teach it.” We require a reason for the 
faith that is within us. 

But the Church does not fear the issue. We 
know that we have followed no “cunningly de- 
vised fables.” There may be doubts, but under- 
neath, we know, there is a great Rock. There 
may be darkness, but above, we know, there is the 
divine Light. We invite those, who are willing, 
to take up the great essential teachings with us 
and to think them through. We need take noth- 
ing for granted; we need fear no facts; for truth 
is of God. There is enjoyment in all hard think- 
ing; but keenest is the joy that comes from re- 
search of the things of God. And in all search 
for truth we shall have a better guide than had 
Dante when Beatrice went with him; for we have 
the promise of the Spirit who shall guide us into 
all truth. 


No Arguing in a Circle 

In view of this purpose as loyal Protestants we 
would not be justified in basing our proofs on the © 
Bible before we have gained personal conviction, 
either from reasoning or experience, or both, of 
Scriptural authority. To accept the Bible as our 
rule of faith and practice, simply because our 
parents or our leaders so instructed us, would 


26 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


place us in the same category with the children of 
those churches in which priesthood dictates faith. 
To argue the Bible from the fact of God and then 
to argue God from the fact of the Bible would be 
equally puerile. We must start out from where 
we are, without preconceived ideas, but ever 
willing to receive the-testimonies of nature, of lives. 
that have shown their worth, and of the unseen 
forces that may seek entrance to our hearts. 


The Purpose Fully Stated 


The full purpose of this course of study, then, 
is the mastering of a system of Christian truth for 
guidance in personal thought and conduct, for the 
instruction of others, and for the deepening of our 
sense of identity with the whole Church of God 
on earth and in heaven. 


SUGGESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

Let ten students each mention any one fact from 
the Bible. Put these on the blackboard. Determine: 
together whether any relation between these indis- 
criminate facts can be established. 

Let several students state Bible facts that bear ob- 
vious relation to each other. Now formulate the 
principles that are vital to all of them. Do the same 
with related historic facts. 

Let students quote Bible incidents that will illus-. 
trate a single Bible teaching. Call for historic facts 
that show the same principle. 

Jesus mentioned Abraham with greater approval 
than He mentioned Moses. Discuss possible reasons. 

Consider the vital elements that are lacking in the 
so-called ‘“ Apostles’ Creed.” With this Biblical. 


ORGANIZING OUR KNOWLEDGE 27 


creed, reach a working basis for members of various 
denominations. 

Compare the importance of intellect, feeling, and will 
in religious theory and religious life. 

Elicit from class members life philosophies they 
have formed. 

Take a few minutes to prepare the students for 
the next lesson, the contents of which are likely to be 
foreign to their thinking. 


For Further Research 

Introduction to a reliable, popular History of 
Philosophy. 

The Philosophy of Education, Ch. I, H. H. Horne. 

The Problem of Human Life, Part II, Rudolph 
Eucken. 

Reading day by day: Ps. 19; Job 38:1-9; Jn. 
ZO NSO0-Ol ey dim eee lo Lo Timiege lei on! 
4:11-16; Prov. 8: 10-17. 


II 


VIEWS REGARDING GOD AND THE 
WORLD 


Ts many diverse ideas about the origin, 
the nature, and the purpose of the uni- 
verse with all that it contains have in the 
main found expression through three great schools 
of thought, known as Materialistic, Pantheistic, 
and Theistic. So completely are the adherents of 
these three schools at variance one with the other 
in their views of religion, or man’s relation to 
God, that the same person could not sincerely ac- 
cept all the teachings of any one of these schools 
and also accept all the teachings of another of 
these schools. To do so would compromise both 
his intelligence and his standards of living. The 
three schools are inherently and forever antago- 
nistic in those large outlooks on the world and 
on life. 


Agreement Likely on Physical Matters 


In unessentials the devotees of these three views 
of life may cordially agree. Whenever a noted 
astronomer predicts a sun-eclipse, or the ap- 
proaching appearance of a comet, those who learn 


of his predictions will confidently look forward to 
28 


REGARDING GOD AND THE WORLD 29 


their fulfillment, no matter to what school they 
belong. In case the health officer orders the peo- 
ple of his municipality to boil their drinking water 
because of dangerous germs, every reasonable 
citizen implicitly obeys. When an agricultural 
professor sends out advices regarding the applica- 
tions of fertilizers of different kinds for different 
soils, or suggests means of exterminating certain 
pests, his instructions will be carried out without 
regard to world-views. Upon facts of science all 
are readily agreed. 


Agreement Possible on Moral Matters 


The members of the three antagonistic schools 
may find unison also on moral matters. An out- 
and-out Materialist may hate alcohol as heartily 
as does the Theist, and may be an equally strong 
defender of human rights with the Pantheist. The 
three have no quarrel whatever with the principle 
that life on earth should be useful, and that it 
should be enjoyed as happily as circumstances 
permit. They are perfectly agreed, also, that 
every human being ought to attain to the highest 
of his capacities. But when it comes to a discus- 
sion of reasons and purposes, why alcohol must 
be fought, why life should be useful and enjoy- 
able, and why the highest ideals should be at- 
tained, then the cat comes out of the bag. Rea- 
sons and purposes differ radically among respec- 
tive adherents of the three world-views. 


30 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


Differing Purposes 

As soon as purpose is mentioned, the well- 
schooled Theist thinks at once of God. In the 
background of all his thinking lies that compre- 
hensive principle of life, to love God above all and 
his neighbor as himself. He thinks of God as the 
benign origin of all things and the great Goal 
toward which all creation moves. Old Plato 
thought so, many centuries ago, and the most 
modern Christian is still imbued with that idea. 
He wants to identify his own purposes with the 
purpose of God. Morality is to his thinking the 
handmaid of religion. Man should attain to the 
highest because God, the All-Perfect, is beckoning 
him on. Life should be useful, because we are the 
stewards of God. 

But the Materialist starts yawning while the 
Theist is thus unburdening his mind. He ac- 
knowledges no God, and therefore no relationship 
with God. Business opportunities are beckoning 
him, which it were folly to neglect. Every indi- 
vidual ought to make himself useful, because the 
way of usefulness is the common way to success. 
Man should attain the highest that is in him, that 
he may be greatest. The purpose of life on the 
part of the Materialist is the greatest happiness 
of the greatest number, beginning with self. 

The Pantheist, on the other hand, is poetic in 


REGARDING GOD AND THE WORLD 31 


his world-view. There is no personal God to ap- 
peal to him, but rather the immense unity of this 
variegated universe. 

It would be so incongruous, don’t you know, if 
a life that forms part of God should prove to be 
anything but useful and enjoyable and attaining 
to its highest capacity. The purpose of the sin- 
cere Pantheist is to move in line with the onward 
movement of the universe. 

Such utterly divergent impressions do these 
three groups of thinkers receive from the same 
objects and phenomena, that if they talked them 
over between each other they would find no point 
of contact except in the reactions of the senses. 
Their aims are not the same; their hopes are 
strange to each other; there is no common ground 
of faith. Yet, every one of us belongs to one of 
these three schools, and we daily act and think 
according to the tenets of one such school. Even 
if, as we may well suppose, our membership is in 
the Theistic school, we come into constant contact 
with members of the other side. It is well, there- 
fore, that we gain a clearer understanding of each 
of these world-views. 


The Teachings of Materialism 
The word ‘ materialism” is derived from the 
word ‘‘matter.” The Materialist asserts that 
matter forms the sum and substance of the uni- 


382 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


verse. But by matter he means more than we 
usually mean by it; he includes all the invisible 
forces that control matter; such as the law of 
gravitation, the magnetic currents, the ether 
waves, capillary attraction, inertia and motion, 
in fact all the laws and forces that are operative 
in the universe of matter. Not content with this 
comprehensive view of matter, the materialist as- 
signs also the processes of human thought to mat- 
ter; for he denies the presence of any spiritual 
agencies. Just as the liver in a man’s body ex- 
cretes bile, so, the Materialist claims, the brain 
and its gray matter excrete thought. In similar 
way are the great laws of nature sufficient to the 
Materialist for the government of the universe. 
Hence the Materialist’s sweeping conclusions: 

1. Matter is eternal, not created. It has neither 
beginning nor end. 

2. Whatever purposes appear to be working out 
in the world are simply the outworkings of nature’s 
laws inherent in matter. 

3. There is no need of any personal or spiritual 
' source of the universe, or of its direction by any 
agencies outside itself. 

4. There is no need of a Supreme Ruler, or 
God; in fact, there is no God. 

5. The existence of a human soul is, like the 
idea of the existence of God, a figment of the 
imagination. 


REGARDING GOD AND THE WORLD 33 


Other Cousins in the Materialist’s Family 


Because of their crass denial of God, the name 
“atheist ” has often been applied to Materialists. 
The word is derived from the Greek word “ theos,” 
which means God, and the prefix “a” which has 
a negative force,—‘ no God.” For all practical 
purposes the Atheist and the Materialist are of 
the same mind,—presuming they have a mind;— 
for both deny the existence of God and of the 
human soul. Ernst Haeckel, a German philoso- 
pher of a generation ago, was the last noted Ma- 
terialist. The school as a body of learned men, 
can no longer claim existence; but the conse- 
quences of its teachings are rampant in modern 
life, with its worship of material things and its 
lack of appreciation of things spiritual. 

A first cousin of the Materialistic clan is the 
Agnostic. The name is derived from the same 
Greek stem from which we have our word “ know,” 
namely, “ gneo,” to which also the negative pre- 
fix “a” is attached—“ not-knower.” The Ag- 
nostic does not go quite so far as the Atheist in 
his denial of the existence of God; he professes 
complete ignorance in the whole affair. He does 
not know. But with this negative statement he is. 
not content. He denies that God can be known 
either by himself or by anyone else. He thinks, 
about as highly of the laws of nature as does the 
Atheist and sees little reason for the governing: 
presence of God. Still, he admits, there might be 


34 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


such a being. But if there is, he has to be of such 
a nature that man can never know him. The 
chief exponent of this branch of the Materialistic 
school was Herbert Spencer, an English educator 
of the generation also just passed. But he has 
many informal followers. 


Weaknesses of the Materialist 

1. For the satisfaction of the human reason the 
theory of the eternity of matter has no advantages 
over the theory of the priority of spirit. 

2. The idea of matter as the sole source of the 
invisible forces and all their laws, taxes our credul- 
ity more heavily than does the idea of a personal 
source behind ail these. 

3. The idea of purpose without a mind some- 
where to do the purposing, is contrary to daily 
experience. 

4. It is presumptuous for the Materialist to as- 
sert that God does not exist, and for the Agnostic 
that if He does exist He cannot make Himself 
known; for no proof for these assertions has been 
produced; while testimony to the presence of God 
has been given from many sides. 

5S. The Materialist furnishes no proof, either, 
for his denial of the immortality of the human 
soul; while, as we shall see later, there are many 
evidences in favor of such immortality. 

6. The natural consequences of materialism, 


REGARDING GOD AND THE WORLD 35 


both logically and actually, condemn its teaching, 
because they are not elevating but degrading. 

a. The tangible things, such as gold, silver, 
property, and what these can secure, are most 
worth while. Materialism, therefore, leads to 
greed. 

b. The pleasures of the body deserve first 
consideration; for they afford chief expression 
to human nature. Materialism, therefore, en- 
courages lust. 

c. Without a hereafter and a final judgment 
the life of some is filled out with ill-gotten 
riches, excessive luxuries, and ease; while the 
sum-total of existence on earth for others is 
toil, distress, maltreatment and poverty. Ma- 
terialism leads to inhuman injustice. 

d. Human life is a fight from cradle to grave 
against oncoming age, and it is a losing fight; 
for death is sure victor. Materialism leads to 
the deepest kind of pessimism. 


The Teachings of Pantheism 


There is in the school of Pantheism much more 
that charms than there is in the Materialistic at- 
mosphere. Pantheism enjoys warmth of life and 
a throbbing pulse. Unfortunately, in this school 
the pendulum swings too far the other way. In- 
stead of denying God, the Pantheist posits God 
everywhere. To his mind God and the universe 
are identical. The divine Being is not simply im- 


386 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


manent in all things, and, as Paul expressed it, 
‘In Him we live and move and have our being;” 
but God is all things, and all things are God. 
Hence the word “ Pan,” which means “all,” to- 
gether with ‘“theos,” composing the word “ Pan- 
theos,” or ‘“ All-God.” 

The most famous exponent of this world-view 
was Benedict Spinoza, a Portuguese Jew, but liv- 
ing in or about Amsterdam and supporting him- 
self by grinding spectacles. He wrote nature with 
a capital ‘‘N ” and used the word very much as 
we use the word God, except that to him both God 
and Nature seemed impersonal. All those material 
things of which the Materialist has been speak- 
ing, with all the laws and forces of the universe, 
he regarded not from the materialistic but from 
the spiritual standpoint. As he looked at the 
glasses he was grinding, he thought of the rela- 
tionship between the convex and the concave sides 
of the one glass as illustrative of the visible and 
the invisible universe. You might call it Nature, 
or you might call it God. 


The Charm of Pantheism 


At first thought the doctrines of Spinoza possess 
unmeasured charm, particularly for young people. 
The writer well remembers the time when he was 
strongly attracted by its teachings. To think, 
when looking at a tree, that God is there, and that 
to touch the tree does really mean to touch God, 


REGARDING GOD AND THE WORLD 37 


has a sobering and worshipful effect for a while. 
It seems to afford anew the wonderful experience 
that came to Moses in the desert when he saw the 
burning bush. But it will be remembered that 
Moses was cautioned not to approach the bush. 
The place was too sacred for shod feet. After the 
first flush of reverence is over, which Pantheism 
has produced, we come to less worshipful experi- 
ences. For if everything is God, then we must 
sense His presence not simply in the beauty of the 
flowers and the majesty of the mountains, but also 
in the ugly things we face, the offal we cast away, 
the gruesome things that repel us. If everything 
is God, then what we chew and swallow is God, 
too. And it becomes difficult to worship such a 
God. In Pantheism, He, Whom we have learned 
to revere as the Infinite and All-holy, grows all 
too common. And the personal nature of God, 
His friendship which, especially in the Person of 
Jesus Christ, we have cherished, is lost to us. 


A School Fruitful of Cults 


It is scarcely surprising that Pantheism has 
gained many votaries among people who are 
readily pleased with a form of religion, which does 
not require much from them. Beginning with its 
founder, a Jew who had never found Christ, yet 
searched for light and groped for truth without 
accepting the lowly Nazarene, Pantheism has 
never found a personal God. Annie Besant and 


88 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


her school of New Thought have taken Spinoza’s 
teachings and have made them their own. Mrs. 
Mary Baker Eddy took as much of it as she could 
absorb with her limited education, and has left 
her followers whatever legacy she was able to re- 
ceive from Spinoza in the idea of an impersonal 
God. More recently, Bergson, a noted French 
philosopher, has modernized Spinoza’s teachings in 
his theory of “ creative evolution,” in which God 
in His universe is conceived of as similar to the 
babe’s unconscious soul within the little growing 
body, but gradually coming to consciousness in 
that body. So, he maintains, God is progressively 
coming to consciousness in the world, specially 
through human beings. 


Truth and Error in Pantheism 


The one great truth in Pantheism, which has 
furnished it with all the vitality it may boast, is 
the doctrine of the immanence of God. In the 
humdrum of life this wonderful fact is easily for- 
gotten. A restless, homesick, wandering race can- 
not be too frequently reminded of God’s presence 
everywhere. Let us thank Spinoza and the 
modern cults that have used and abused his 
teachings, for this one great reminder. 

But as a doctrine to live by, we are forced to 
reject Pantheism, because of its fatal denials of: 

1. Distinction between mind and matter, which 
both are equally God, if Pantheism is true. 


REGARDING GOD AND THE WORLD 39 


2. Creation of matter. Side by side with the 
Materialist, the Pantheist maintains that matter, 
—which is to him the same as mind—existed from 
all eternity. 

3. The personal nature of God. As the sum 
and substance of all things, God is more of a 
power than a Person. He is nature; which may 
at times be friendly, but which cannot be a friend. 

4. The individuality of man. For man also 
loses his personality in the great mass of the 
universe. 

5. Personal responsibility. With individuality 
taken from him, there is no place to center 
obligation. 

6. Sin. Being part of God, it is not possible, of 
course, for man to sin. The worst he can do is 
to lag behind in the onward movement of the uni- 
verse toward perfection. 

7. Consciousness after death. Something even 
less tangible than the Hindu’s Nirvana awaits the 
human being on his demise. 

Essentially, the teachings of Pantheism lead to 
the same absurdities and false positions which we 
should reach with Materialism. Without obliga- 
tions, or recognition of sin; without personal com- 
munion with God,—or with others, for that mat- 
ter,—where is the meaning of life? It may seem 
flattering to consider ourselves, as does the so- 
called Christian Scientist, “ part of God”; but he 
who so flatters himself is doomed to miss God’s 


40 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


personal friendship. Thus, ultimately, Pantheism 
becomes a far greater delusion than is Materialism. 


Theistic Belief 


Theism is belief in a personal God. Generally 
speaking, the western world is Theistic. But this 
faith in one Supreme Being does not keep people 
from having various opinions regarding the nature, 
attributes and ways of God, and our immediate 
relation to Him. There may be Deists, Unitarians 
and Trinitarians. 


The Deist’s Idea of God 


The name “ Deist”’ is taken direct from the 
Latin “ Deus,” as ‘“‘theos” is taken from the 
Greek. In philosophy the Deists are classified by 
themselves, even though they believe in a personal 
God; for their ideas are so different from that of 
Evangelical believers. They think of God as hav- 
ing created and ordained all things, establishing 
order in the universe and causing the laws to 
operate. But when all this had been accomplished, 
God withdrew and He is still withdrawn from His 
handiwork, leaving the world processes to the just 
operations of His laws. It is as if a clockmaker 
had produced a gigantic clock, arranging every de- 
tail accurately, then winding the works and set- 
ting the clock agoing to run forever, or until 
finally the machinery should run down, or wear 
out. 


REGARDING GOD AND THE WORLD 41 


If this were a true conception of God and His 
world, it is obvious that prayer would be out of 
place and that fatalism must be the ultimate and 
all-embracing law of the universe. For all prac- 
tical purposes the world of the Deist is not much 
better off than that of the Pantheist or of the Ma- 
terialist, with whom natural laws are the sum-total 
of deity. 

The consequences of this cold conception of 
God have been clearly seen in the devotees of this 
creed. Deists have not themselves greatly warmed 
up to worship, or to the extension of the kingdom 
of God. With a God in mind who had withdrawn 
Himself from the world, they did not diligently 
seek the presence of God in daily friendship. As 
a result, Deism counts but few adherents to-day. 
But its snare is still catching many unawares. For 
the idea that the laws of nature are forever so 
established that the prayers of God’s children are 
futile, when a change of natural operations is con- 
cerned, this cold idea is apparently gaining force 
even among Christian people. 


Unitarian Tenets 


Unitarians have a far more intimate conception 
of God than do Deists; but they are distinct from 
the great body of Trinitarians of which Evangel- 
ical Churches are composed. As the name sug- 
gests, their chief distinction is the idea of the 
unity or oneness of God. There is, they say, not 


42 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


only but one God, but also but one person in the 
Godhead, and not a trinity of Father, Son, and 
Holy Spirit. Of the Holy Spirit they think as 
but another name for the Father, and of Jesus, 
as the son of God, just as we are the children of 
God, only more perfectly. They do not, there- 
fore, worship Christ; neither do they lean upon 
Him for salvation. The life and death of Christ 
are to them the highest example of divine child- 
hood, which we must attempt to follow. Christ 
is our teacher, and only in so far, our Saviour. He 
does not rescue us, but shows us by His own ex- 
ample how we may save ourselves. Salvation is 
not by grace but by a gracious character. 

Altogether, then, we have these three articles in 
the Unitarian’s creed: 

1. There is but one Person in the Godhead, 
God, the Father of all mankind. 

2. All men are brothers, of the same sonship 
of God with Christ, but not yet so far advanced 
toward perfection. 

3. Salvation is not through forgiveness and di- 
vine mercy; but through human effort and the ac- 
companying growth of character. 


The Shortcomings of Unitarianism 
The Unitarians’ appreciation of Jesus as a man, 
not one of us could surpass. They have every 
praise of Him that our lips might utter; but they 
hold back from Him the one name that is above 


REGARDING GOD AND THE WORLD 43 


every name, and which He claimed as peculiarly 
His own,—the name of the Son of God, only-be- 
gotten. Regarding the articles of their faith we 
note: 

1. Unitarians confuse the idea of person and 
being. None of us hold that God is three Beings, 
or three Gods; but rather one Supreme Being in 
three persons. The meaning of this we shall con- 
sider later on. 

2. Jesus not only proclaimed Himself as the 
Son of God, but also as “ the way ” to God. Uni- 
tarians think of him as a goal which by their own 
strength they must reach. Jesus offers himself as 
the power of God whose strength is at our dis- 
posal to reach the heart of God. 

3. The idea of the “brotherhood of men” 
sounds fine enough; but it is not Jesus’ own teach- 
ing. He declared that to enter the kingdom of 
God, we must be “ born from above ” (John 3:3). 
He called the Jews who rejected Him and His say- 
ings, not children of God, but “ children of your 
father, the devil.” (John 8:44.) 

4. It was the idea of Unitarians that Jesus as 
the only-begotten Son of God would not be “ the 
way” to the Father as he claimed, but that he 
would be zm their way to the Father. With Jesus 
removed they expected to have freer access to God. 
But exactly the contrary has resulted. They are 
missing their great High Priest and gradually they 
have gone the way of the Deists. Their worship 


ay, 


t 


44 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


has grown colder. Many have turned to New 
Thought and to Christian Science. It is a historic 
fact that the Unitarian Church is not missionary 
in spirit. It does not grow, because it lacks the 
requisite vigor for world victory. 

There remains, then, the Trinitarian doctrine, 
which we shall discuss in a subsequent chapter. 


SUGGESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Secure expression from the students by which 
they may rank themselves in one of the three main 
schools. : 

2. Ascertain from the students which view would 
naturally appeal to them most if they had not been 
influenced by Christian teaching. 

3. Compare Materialism and Pantheism to discern 
clearly the differences, the similarities and the iden- 
tities. 

4. Discuss modern Materialism among professing 
Christians. 

5. Collect reasons why modern cults are usually 
indebted to Pantheism. 

6. Discuss the appearance of Deism to-day in daily 
habits of people. 

7. Combine all Unitarians in the world, and note 
their possibilities. Then produce efficient reasons to 
show why they cannot dominate. 

8. Let one section of the class write down modern 
evils that are legitimately traceable to materialism, 
and another section those that are clearly traced to 
Pantheism. 

For Further Research 

The Christian’s God, Ch. II, William Burton. 

The Diviner Immanence, Ch. I, IV, Francis J. 
McConnell. 

Reading day by day: Ex. 3: 1-6; Ex. 32: 1-6; Ex. 
3431-8; Isa. 37: 8-23; Dan. 3:8-18; Acts 17: 16-31; 
Rom. 1: 18-32. 


Il 
WHY FAITH IN GOD? 


the intelligent to pause, that some sort of 

belief in a higher power or powers, and some 
sort of worship, exists among all peoples. The 
religious ideas of many worshipers are vague and 
crude and superstitious. Too frequently the rev- 
erence due to one Supreme Being has been lost in 
a maze of demons, fetiches and charms. Never- 
theless, the fact remains that the whole world over 
humanity looks beyond itself for powers, or a 
power, greater than self and related to human ex- 
istence. And always is there a seeking for per- 
sonality, either residing in or existing beyond the 
confines of the physical world. It is but natural 
to inquire how and whence this universal idea may 
have originated. 


| is a well-known fact, which may well cause 


How Was the Idea of God First Born? 


The simplest answer is that from childhood up 
people have been told by their parents that there 
is a God. Because in our home the folks talked 
and acted in that belief, we naturally accepted it 


and took God for granted. In somewhat similar 
45 


46 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


way the aborigines of Calabar entertained notions 
of animism and fetichism. This is simple enough; 
why should we go any further! 

The trouble is, this is too simple. To stop with 
this would mark us simpletons. We are rationally 
forced to go further. Where did our folks get the 
idea? From their parents. And where did their 
parents get it? Let us push this back to its 
source. Where did our first ancestors get hold of 
the idea of God? For no parents told them 
about it. Somebody, somewhere, at the beginning 
of the line, did originate it, and ever since, appar- 
ently, every reasonable being has fallen right in 
with it. Certain possible ways suggest themselves. 

1. That first human being to whom the idea of 
God, or of invisible powers, occurred, looked about 
him and saw material things all around, which 
neither he nor anyone else he had ever met could 
possibly make or have made. He observed phe- 
nomena in nature, such as sunsets and rainstorms, 
hail and lightning, winds and fogs, all far beyond 
the power of man to produce. How could he help 
looking beyond the material world for the source 
of those mighty forces! 

2. But reason was not the only attribute in man 
whereby he might seek for God and find Him. 
There was also the heart. The finer feelings of 
man were touched in the course of his experiences. 
He learned to admire the beautiful things of 
earth. He enjoyed the singing of skylark and 


WHY FAITH IN GOD? AT 


nightingale. He sensed the tenderness of violet 
and forget-me-not; the nobleness of oak and pine. 
More than that, he learned to love. He found 
that behind the exterior of that other person there 
was an unseen self that answered to the unseen 
self hidden behind his own features. Ere long he 
learned that his love was the strongest power he 
possessed; it mastered him. Out of dove he found 
himself willing to do what out of fear he could 
never have been forced to do. One soul had an- 
swered another soul. Might it be conceivable, 
then, that as behind the body of another he had 
discovered a soul, there might be such a person- 
ality also behind the phenomena of earth? Love 
led him to look further. 

3. The human will must also have entered in; 
for it is the chief basis of character, and is so 
closely related to duty. Man realized himself at 
his best in the performance of duty, and at his 
worst in the neglect of duty. What will was there, 
superior to his own, that caused him ease or heavi- 
ness of heart, according to his ways? There must 
be a power in existence, similar to himself; but 
greater! 

4. If man looked beyond himself because of his 
inner spirit, what of that invisible Being for whom 
he was unconsciously looking, because both reason 
and heart directed him? ‘There is a saying in an 
old Book (Jer. 29:13), that was as true in the 
dawn of history as it is now, “If with all your 


48 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


heart ye truly seek Me, ye shall ever surely find 
Me.” Only in case there were no God would it be 
credible to think that man, amazed by the powers 
of nature, drawn by the things he admired and 
loved, and stimulated by conscience, should search 
for God without response on God’s part. We 
know now, though primeval man may not have 
known it, that God looks for us before we ever 
look for Him. That first soul, that searched for 
the Invisible, received response. He felt in his 
inmost self that what he looked for existed. And 
when he spoke to his children, he spoke with con- 
viction. He spoke with reason, heart and will. 

There are those who say that the idea of God 
is purely a clinging to a shadow. Let us accept 
the statement for the moment. Then let us note 
how shadows are produced. Can there be a 
shadow anywhere, unless there be a substance 
somewhere, and a light to cause the shadow of that 
substance? 


Historic Arguments for the Existence of God 


The child and the philosopher may ask the same 
question regarding God. For there are basic prob- 
lems that face us as soon as we begin to think in 
terms of eternities and infinities, and try to find 
the first great Source of all. Throughout the ages 
the keenest minds have set themselves to the solu- 
tion of world-problems. Among their utterances 
those that concern our own reasons for believing 


WHY FAITH IN GOD? 49 


in God as a personal Being are by no means least. 
We shall endeavor briefly to present the leading 
arguments: 

1. The ontological argument, so-called because 
it rests on our own make-up. Des Cartes, a 
French philosopher who was banished from his 
country by the Roman Church and spent his life 
publishing his works, first in Holland and, later, 
in Sweden, propounded this proposition: ‘‘ We 
are finite,” he said, “ but we have within us an 
idea of the Infinite. We are imperfect; but we 
think of and idealize the All-Perfect. How could 
the idea of the Perfect come to the imperfect, or 
that of the Infinite make itself felt in the finite 
unless it were imparted to us? And who could 
impart it except One who is Himself infinite and 
perfect? ” 

2. The cosmological argument, so-called be- 
cause it relates to the existence of the Cosmos, or 
world. Every effect, so goes the argument, is due 
to a cause that is great enough to produce the 
effect. The world about us presents to our eyes 
an effect that is greater than any cause we have 
ever experienced. ‘The cause cannot lie in our- 
selves; it cannot lie in nature itself. Then it must 
be traced beyond self and nature. It leads us to 
that supernatural cause we call God. 

3. The argument from design. The world as 
we observe it shows purpose; but purpose in- 
volves intelligence. When a piece of exquisite 


50 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


music is rendered, the listener knows without 
being told that someone has prepared a suitable 
instrument; that a composer has prepared the 
piece that is being played, and that a musician is 
drawing the notes from the instrument. The in- 
strument could not play itself. Similarly, when 
we see the changes of seasons, the alterations of 
day and night, the marvelous correspondences be- 
tween heavenly bodies, the animal world domi- 
nated by man, then we know that these relation- 
ships could not have been established accidentally; 
nor could purpose have found expression without 
intelligence; for matter as we meet with it does 
not possess intelligence. A Mind was required to 
design and direct. “The heavens declare the 
glory of God and the firmament showeth His 
handiwork.” 

4. The argument from need and supply. The 
universe is everywhere so arranged, this argument 
has it, that for needs there is supply. People 
grow hungry and there is food which they can 
secure. They get thirsty and there is water. This 
is equally true of the animal world, and of the rest 
of creation. Needs arise and there are supplies 
somewhere to meet these needs. While it does 
happen that need and supply do not meet at the 
exact place and time, where they are most suited 
to each other, yet it is always true that somewhere 
in the universe there is a supply for some need 
felt. But the needs of the human heart are the 


WHY FAITH IN GOD? | 51 


greatest of all needs. When man says, “ As the 
hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my 
soul after thee, O God,” is it conceivable that his 
prayer is in vain? When a soul cries out, “O, 
my Father!” is there no “ Here, my child”? The 
physical world with its supply assures us that for 
our spiritual needs also there is adequate supply. 
But our souls need God. ‘Therefore, there is a 
God. 

5. Argument from moral justice. Again, there 
is the sense of right and wrong, inborn in every 
human being. By what measure shall right and 
wrong be meted if there be no God? Who is going 
to straighten out unevennesses between the op- 
pressor and the oppressed? Who is finally to 
reach the evil-doer who escapes the clutches of 
earthly law? Jesus called attention to Dives and 
Lazarus, the one rolling in wealth, the other writh- 
ing in agony and rotting in poverty. The hope of 
a better world sustained poor Lazarus; but sup- 
pose there were no heaven? Suppose there were 
no God in heaven? There ought to be a final 
judgment and because there ought to be there is. 
The deepest thinker of modern times, Immanuel 
Kant, was able to argue the existence of God, and 
also the non-existence of God from pure reason- 
ing; but when he took up the moral argument and 
considered right and wrong, then he called his 
readers back to the fact of God, duty and im- 
mortality. 


52 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


6. Personal experience of God. This we must 
not call an argument; because it is of so much 
greater force than all the five arguments that have 
been stated and which are the fruition of clear, 
strong minds. Each argument alone is worthy of 
our serious consideration. 

Still, it must -be confessed that God is not 
brought to the human heart by rational arguments 
alone, or even supremely. For religion is not su- 
premely an affair of the head; it is an affair as 
well of the heart and of the will. People who have 
failed to use their spiritual eyes and have centered 
their attention on the visible world have gradually 
grown blind. The light of heaven is too brilliant 
for them; it would hurt their eyes. They are spir- 
itually devoid of eyesight, and every argument we 
might produce would fail of its effect. The task 
of proving God to them by reason is hopeless. In 
the Bible it is never even attempted. God is taken 
for granted all the way through. “In the begin- 
ning—God,” are the Bible’s first words. But 
throughout the Bible there are characters who 
come into personal touch with God. Anyone who 
is willing to read the Bible and to note the experi- 
ences of those men and women who lived in the 
presence of God, is on the way of growing con- 
vinced of the reality of God. 

God can be proven unmistakably to every one 
of us, and He is daily being proved in human lives. 
His care for us, His patience, His friendship, His 


WHY FAITH IN GOD? 53 


great disapproval of sin, His infinite yearning for 
our love, all these may be keenly felt and of these 
we may bear witness by our godly ways and 
words. Such witness is the strongest proof of God 
and it is most convincing. 


How Can We Know God? 


Those Agnostics of whom we made mention in 
the previous chapter might have used at least one 
verse in the Bible in their defense, had they taken 
the trouble to peruse the Bible. It is a question 
asked with the evident expectation of a negative 
reply, ‘“‘ Canst thou by searching find out God? 
Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection? ” 
(Job 11:7.) Which is also in agreement with the 
suggestions of our previous paragraph; we cannot 
reach God by the ladder of pure reasoning. Not 
the brains but the heart finds God. Jesus in His 
high-priestly prayer (John 17:3) gave the world 
an astounding utterance, ‘‘ This is life eternal that 
they should know Thee, the only true God, and 
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” We must 
know God, or we lose out altogether. How shall 
we go about it? 


Do Others Know Us? 

In a study of ways in which God may be known 
and to what degree, it should be helpful to con- 
sider how we ourselves may be known and to what 
degree. We are partly known by our appearance. 
Even the clothes we wear tell something of our 


54 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


character. A neat person, however poor, does 
never appear shabby; while a slovenly person, 
however rich, does not look neat in a brand-new 
suit. Clothes do not make the man; but clothes 
show the man. Then there are facial expressions, 
and particularly of the eyes, whereby folks get an 
idea of our inner nature. Happiness beams out 
of the eyes; anger is shown in one’s features; 
satisfaction can be made known without words; 
even hope and courage can be read from eyes and 
mouth. The body, too, takes its part in witnessing 
of the soul. Our ways of rising up and sitting 
down; our position in standing or sitting; the gait 
we strike in walking; the quickness or slowness of 
our motions; our mannerisms and idiosyncrasies 
all combine to make us known to others. 

Again: there are the things we say, and the way 
in which we say them; the ideas conveyed by our 
words, and their purpose. ‘ Out of the abundance 
of the heart the mouth speaketh,” so that sooner 
or later we are likely to show what we are by 
what we say. 

At least as sure a criterion of character as those 
just mentioned are our actions. ‘“‘ Deeds speak 
louder than words.” The person who voluntarily 
does right may with fair accuracy be judged as 
being right at heart. ‘‘ Even a child is known by 
his doings.” Our looks, our words, and our deeds 
are so many labels that mark our personality. 

Yet, when all has been said, neither our clothes, 


WHY FAITH IN GOD? 55 


nor our facial expression, nor our general be- 
havior, nor our words, nor yet our deeds are our- 
selves. There is an unseen, inner soul behind it 
all, as the center and source of these manifesta- 
tions. “ As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” 
And who can know, for certain, what anyone of 
us thinks in his heart—except in so far as we are 
willing to let it be known? There is no certain 
way of knowing each other through and through. 
We know in part. We see through a glass darkly. 


Ways of Knowing God 

The ways we have mentioned by which others 
may be known apply in an infinitely higher sense 
to our ways of knowing God. We gain an idea 
of God through nature, because God has expressed 
Himself through these visible things and forces. 
“The heavens declare the glory of God,” because 
God made them, and we may rightly judge a per- 
son’s character by what he makes. In a sense 
these natural phenomena are expressive of God 
as our clothes are expressive of us. ‘‘ Who cover- 
est Thyself with light as with a garment ”’ (Psalm 
104:2), says the poet to God. But nature is more 
than the mere garment of God. It has pleased 
Him to express divine attributes through nature. 
The beauty of the rose witnesses to the beauty of 
God. The majesty of the mountains proclaims 
that God is majestic; the delicacy of the tiniest 
flower witnesses to infinite graciousness. ‘‘ Thy 


56 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


righteousness is like the great mountains; Thy 
judgments are a great deep” (Psalms 36:6). 
There is a sense in which the Pantheist is right. 
As we express our minds through our bodies, so 
God expresses His mind through nature. And just 
as the architect of a great cathedral has found ex- 
pression through the building he planned, so has 
God found limited expression and is still showing 
His character in a measure through the universe. 

Our sovereign God has also manifested His 
nature by the way He controls and directs the 
affairs of the world. History is a wonderful record 
of God’s ways with men. The Hebrew nation was 
typical of all nations. When they followed the 
gracious suggestions of their divine Leader the na- 
tion prospered; but when they went wandering 
after idols of other nations those very nations 
brought chastisement upon them. This has been 
true as well of Egypt, Babylonia, Greece, and 
Rome; it is true of our modern nations. Four 
hundred years ago Spain was a mighty empire, 
sailing the Seven Seas. America lay at her feet. 
But instead of bringing good tidings to those peo- 
ples, Spain took from them their gold and silver. 
Then God put down Spain from among the nations 
of the earth. At that time, 


“ The voice of God to Holland came, 
To Leyden by the sea, 

— “Rise up ye children without name, 
My kings and priests to be!” 


WHY FAITH IN GOD? 57 


But Holland, too, though in possession of far 
greater riches than Spain, by the light of the 
Reformation, centered her interest on spices and 
monopolies, refusing to send the glad tidings. 
Then Holland went down. Of late God spoke to 
Germany, “‘I am sending you the sons of the 
earth. Teach them My truth.” But Germany 
taught “ superman,” instead of the grace of Christ. 
Now Germany has fallen. 

In our own lives God has shown Himself even 
more clearly and more fully than in nature and 
in history; for He has shown His love and mercy, 
and these are the greatest of His attributes. 

God has revealed Himself in words. He has 
spoken to humankind. We know Him by what 
He has said to us. In these studies we plan to 
devote a whole chapter to this mode of divine 
revelation. Suffice it here that the wonderful 
words of life show to us a wonderful, life-giving 
God. 

God has revealed His character by deeds. Su- 
preme among these is the gift of His only-begotten 
Son. For God is more than almighty, and more 
than holy and righteous. God is love. 


The Infinite Perfection of God 


There is a contemplative way that helps us to 
appreciate the nature of God, which is but rarely 
applied. Think of all the limitations and imper- 
fections of human nature and eliminate these in 


58 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


thinking of God. Man can watch over his dearest 
friends only a few hours without need of sleep. 
The great Shepherd of Israel neither slumbers nor 
sleeps. Man grows old; God remains forever 
young. Man wearies soon; but God never wearies. 
or faints. Man may forgive for a while; but soon 
loses his patience; God’s pity and forgiveness are 
applied day after day. Man knows his neighbor-. 
hood intimately; God knows the universe in its 
minutest details. Man began in time; God never 
began. Let the highest qualities of man be 
thought of to the nth power, and we have some 
vague idea of the infinitude of God. 


God Cannot Be Defined or Classified 


While standing at this point of vantage we may 
observe two facts that should aid us further in our 
estimate of God. 

1. The Infinite cannot be defined; there can be 
no adequate definition of God. Defining infinity 
is a contradiction of terms. ‘“ Fines,” means 
bounds, and God is boundless. It may be possible 
to make a statement about God; or to predicate: 
something of Him; but this will always involve 
the silent confession that we are considering only 
a phase of God’s being. 

2. God cannot be classified; for He is supreme.. 
Classification calls for similars and equals. But 
though man was made in the likeness of God, the 
similarity is that of creature and Creator, which: 


WHY FAITH IN GOD? 59 


does not allow for categorizing. There is no 
equality. For this reason we cannot form a con- 
cept of God. There is no other being that fully 
explains Him. 


God the Object of Eternal Study 


Through nature, history, human life, the sacred 
Scriptures, and supremely through Jesus Christ 
we are daily learning about God. The moment 
will never come, neither in this world nor in that 
which is to come, when we shall “ know the Al- 
mighty to perfection.” His infinite nature, the 
harmony of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, their 
relation within the Godhead and their relation to 
us, of these we shall learn ever more through the 
unmeasured aeons of eternity. 

With the knowledge of God which we have re- 
ceived from the various sources already men- 
tioned, we may form some such statement,—God 
is the one, infinite, spiritual Being, to whom the 
universe owes its origin, in whose likeness we are 
created, and to whom all things and beings are 
related; for in wisdom, justice and love He gov- 
erns and sustains them all. 


SUGGESTIONS FOR DiscuUSSION 
1. Learn from the members of the class their 
measure of belief in God, and sound their reasons. 
Allow them to criticize each other’s reasons, and help 
each to defend his own. 
2. Allow free expression on the argument in this 


60 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


lesson that appealed most strongly, encouraging the 
stating of arguments not given in the lesson. 

3. Spend a few minutes on the question of useful- 
ness or futility of arguing with non-believers on this 
subject. Give room especially to reports from ex- 
perience. 

4. The suggestion, that others do not know us, 
may be emphasized. Do we agree? Do we want to 
be completely known?* Do we know ourselves per- 
fectly? a 

5. Secure expressions regarding ways in which 
more knowledge of God was and may still be 
acquired. 

6. Talk over the changes on the parts of students 
in their own view of God; the experiences that have 
most definitely pointed to God; the use of prayer in 
relation to God. 

7. Assign for the next lesson to one student a de- 
fense of the Unitarian and to another the defense of 
the Trinitarian doctrine. 


For Further Research 
What Shall I Believe?, A. H. Strong. 
Can I Believe in God, the Father?, W. Newton 
Clarke. 
Christian Doctrine, Ch. I, IJ, R. W. Dale. 
Reading .day by day,:’ Ps. 233 Ps. 1033 [sa.\6%) tsa 
37; Jn. 5:19-26; Jn, 17:1-11; Jn. 14: 1-9. 


IV 
THE TRIUNE BEING 


HAT it would be far more difficult to 
solve the problems of the universe with 
God left out than with God as the source 
and center of all existence, most of us will agree. 
Every road when followed to the end leads to God, 
when we start reasoning of causes and purposes. 
The heart needs Him; the intellect listens to Him; 
the will bows to Him. But when it comes to the 
idea of a Triune God,—Father, Son and Holy 
Spirit,—then there is likely to be a somewhat dif- 
ferent attitude. We readily see the need of one 
God; but why should we think of three divine 
persons! 


Ideas Elsewhere of a Trinity 


If our surmise that the Trinitarian doctrine is 
purely theoretical were correct, then it would be 
the more astonishing to find the same idea among 
non-Christian peoples that have mentally ad- 
vanced beyond others. For not only the Apostles 
mention the triune Being repeatedly; but also the 
Hindus in India, the Aztecs in ancient Mexico, 


and Plato among the Greeks. 
61 


62 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


The Hindus tell of Brahm, the simple, primal 
being, who was the unconscious origin of all 
things. Not in time,—for eternity knows no ear- 
lier or later—but in the order of activity, Vishnu 
followed Brahm as the spirit which unfolded itself 
in the world and by means of it. This spirit has 
consciousness; because it touches the realms of 
day and of sense. Third, there is Shiva, the eter- 
nal being returning to unconsciousness. These 
three cooperating form the trinity of the Hindus. 

Among the Mexicans of ancient days the teach- 
ings regarding God and His universe were strik- 
ingly similar. ‘There was, to begin with, the un- 
known God out of whom the visible world came 
forth. Then there was the world-maker by 
whose agencies the immaterial and unsubstantial 
elements that had been brought forth, assumed 
substance and form. Finally, and finishing the 
work of making worlds, there was a sort of world- 
soul, that permeates all things and endows ani- 
mate nature with life. 

Plato, the great philosopher of Greece, thought, 
in his turn, of ‘‘ The Idea,” or the divine Being 
who is at the same time the origin of all things 
and the goal toward which all creation moves. 
God, the /dea of Plato, thought out the worlds 
that were to be and mapped out their destiny 
through the coming ages. He produced or created 
the unformed materials from which the universe 
was to be molded; but He left it in chaotic form. 


THE TRIUNE BEING 63 


The shaping and the forming, the imparting of 
order and beauty, was the work of the “ Demi- 
urge,’ or divine Artist, who is sometimes called 
Logos. But there was furthermore the World- 
Soul, which gave life to all things on the earth 
and in the heavens, and who sustained all things. 
This World-Soul was neither the Idea nor the 
Demiurge. 

That from three nations so widely scattered, but 
each advanced beyond his neighbors in the scale 
of civilization and in ability of thinking, there did 
originate such closely identical teachings, should 
surely impress us deeply. When, then, in our own . 
sacred Scriptures we find repeated testimony of 
three active persons in the Godhead; while at the 
same time we are asked to worship the one God, 
and these persons performing functions not unlike 
the functions of the persons in non-Christian 
trinities, it behoves us to give the matter most 
serious consideration. 


Scriptural Testimony 

The testimony of the Bible to the fact of the 
divine Trinity is, in the main, sixfold: 

1. There seems to be conversation. God says, 
“Let us make man in our image after our like- 
ness’ (Gen. 1:26), and (Gen. 11:7), “Let us 
go down.” 

2. There is mention of one by the other as 


64 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


“he” and “him”; while they address each other 
with “thou” (Ps. 2; Ps. 110; Jn. 14-17). 

3. There are definite and distinct relationships 
within the Trinity. The Father sends the Son, 
while the Son never sends the Father. Both 
Father and Son send the Holy Spirit, either alone 
or jointly; but the-Holy Spirit does not send either 
Father or Son. The Holy Spirit commissions 
workers ” (Acts 13:2-4). 

4. The three are mentioned in each other’s 
presence. At the occasion of the baptism of Jesus, 
the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus, the Father spoke 
from heaven, and mentioned the Son (Matt. 3:16, 
17). A threefold source of divine testimony is 
vouchsafed John on the Isle of Patmos (Rev. 1:4, 
5), very obviously Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 
In the Apostolic Benediction (II Cor. 13:14) 
mention is made of the three Persons. 

5. Distinct activities are assigned to each of 
them. ‘In the beginning God created.” Which 
is very similar to the teachings of Plato and of 
the old Mexicans. But, “ All things were made 
by Him” (Jn. 1:3), is written of the Son of God. 
Of the Spirit of God it is said that he “‘ brooded 
upon the waters,” in those primeval days when 
man had not yet appeared. 

6. If in the visible world the Father creates, 
the Son forms, and the Holy Spirit vitalizes, sim- 
ilar order is operating in the spiritual world. The 
Father so loves the world that He gives His Son, 


THE TRIUNE BEING 65 


a sacrifice for sin. The Son so completely sur- 
renders to the will of the Father and so truly 
joins the Father’s sympathy, that He gives up His 
heavenly home, becomes a servant and takes on 
Him the iniquities of us all. The Holy Spirit ap- 
plies the life-giving grace divine to human hearts 
that turn to God in repentance. (Jn. 6:63; I Pt. 
Bolo). 

Impressive witnesses have been summoned from 
India, Mexico and Greece. We honor the sages 
who have spoken, no matter from what land. But 
when from our own sacred writings we receive 
such strong, clear testimony, shall we ascribe to 
it less weight? 


Human Reasons for the Triune Being 


Apart from the Bible and away from ancient 
lore there are reasons within us that make it neces- 
sary to think of God not as a lone but as a Triune 
God. 

1. The similarity between God and man. The 
human being, who thinks and feels and wills, is 
most like God of all His fair creation. But this 
must mean that what is true of us, and is nowise 
sinful, may be thought of also as true of God. And 
these are self-evident facts about ourselves: 

a. We want and require fellowship. Al- 
though there are times when we long to be. 
alone, it would mean an affliction, almost as; 
grievous as death, to be shut out from the fel-. 


66 


“ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


lowship of others. Solitary confinement is un- 
natural. 

If this is true of us, what of God, after 
whose likeness we were created? Can we as- 
sume that, from all eternity, the Father existed 
in utter loneliness? If His nature is infinitely 
greater than ours, would not His social quali- 
ties be infinitely greater than ours, too? 
Would He not desire to be loved and would 
He not lavish love? It appears to be of the 
essence of God to be more than one person; 
unless eternal solitariness be conceded. 

b. There is something like a dual personal- 
ity in each of us. Lofty, helpful motives are 
to the fore one moment; degrading, selfish mo- 
tives the next moment. ‘“ For the good that 
I would, I do not; but the evil that I would 
not, that I do,” cries Paul (Rom. 7). But 
if within the same person there can be two 
such semi-personalities opposed to each other, 
why should it be deemed impossible that in 
God three personalities should perfectly agree 
with each other! 

c. There are three mental powers that make 
up the human being—the intellectual powers, 
the emotional powers, and the volitional pow- 
ers. These are not three different compart- 
ments within one human being; but the one 
being wholly thinking, wholly feeling, wholly 
willing. Yet, this one person may meet a beg- 


THE TRIUNE BEING 67 


gar who asks him for alms. The person looks 
upon the poor man’s rags and feels sympathy. 
He is about to hand the wretch a piece of 
silver; when a whiff of breath reaches him, 
that makes him decide differently. The rea- 
son tells him that the fellow will use the 
money to secure more “ white mule.” The 
feelings, then, and the reason, will have it out 
between each other, and the will is to carry 
out the dictates of the winning powers. Carry 
this fact to three distinct powers within one 
person to infinity, and does not the reasonable 
possibility of personality again loom up? 

2. There is need in the divine economy for three 
persons rather than one as the source of truth and 
harmony. Our divine Teacher, who came to reveal 
to men the marvelous grace of God, did not merely 
teach truth; He said, ‘‘ I am the Truth.” When 
Pilate asked Him, “ What is truth?”, He an- 
swered him not a word; for the Truth was stand- 
ing before the Roman officer, who was too blind 
to see Him. 

But how can a person be the Truth? Because 
truth cannot be made. Just as we cannot make 
time, but only use it economically; neither can we 
make space, but only adjust it carefully, because 
time and space are from eternity; so we cannot 
make truth; it is from all eternity. Any attempt 
at making truth would lead us into falsehood. 


68 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


God Himself could not make truth. God is Truth, 
and Christ came to reveal it. 

Let us go further into this. Truth always de- 
mands relationships. A magnetic needle is true 
when it points in a certain direction. It must be 
rightly related to the North Pole. A statement is 
true when it corresponds correctly with facts. A 
line is straight when it is the shortest distance be- 
tween two points. But how could God be the 
Truth, if He were eternally alone? For then there 
would be no relationship. God, to be the Truth, 
or even to be true, must sustain true relationships. 
These true relationships were existing between 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and Christ came as 
the one Person to show the world this eternal rela- 
tionship which is the source of all truth. 

But there should not only be relationship; there 
should be harmony. And harmony requires a 
threefold existence. When two points have a 
straight line between them there is no harmony. 
But when three points are related to each other 
there is either harmony or discord. Symmetry, 
beauty, order, coordination, everything that is ar- 
tistic and pointing toward perfection, must be 
composed of at least three parts. The perfect har- 
mony between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit forms 
the basis of all harmony in all the universe, and 
their perfectly true relationships are the stand- 
ards of truth by which ultimately all truth must 
be gauged. 


THE TRIUNE BEING 69 


Not Three Beings, But Three Persons 

Those who believe in God, but deny the Trin- 
ity, have customarily failed to distinguish be- 
tween person and being on the part of God. 
They go too far in their comparison between God 
and man and insist there cannot be three persons 
unless there are three beings in the Godhead. Of 
course, if their contention is right, then we are 
wholly wrong; for we do not worship three Gods. 
We worship the one true God, in three Persons. 
This consideration requires still further our clos- 
est attention; for it treats of matters that are 
rarely touched upon in daily life, and some phases 
of which are obviously beyond our human ex- 
perience. 

We make a serious mistake when we confine 
the personalities in the Godhead to our human 
categories. The distinct mark of human person- 
ality is such freedom of will that one can differ 
from another and do what another person does 
not want him to do. To our human thinking this 
is the essence of liberty. We are free; therefore 
we can go contrary to the demands or desires of 
another. But in the divine Trinity the principle 
of contrariness does not exist. Fact is, of course, 
that the power of contrariness is not at all essen- 
tial to freedom; it only seems so to us, because 
of our perversity of nature. If every one of us 
were ready to follow divine Truth, we would all 
agree and work harmoniously. The Holy Trinity 


10 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


is in absolute agreement one with the other. 
What one Person of the Godhead wills, the Other 
wills. What One plans the Other plans. What 
is acceptable to the Father is acceptable equally 
to the Son. Their personalities know of no differ- 
ences between them. Their will, feeling, and in- 
tellect are so perfectly united that they are a 
unity. Hence, our idea of human personality is 
not that perfect idea which is sustained in the 
Godhead, and we judge wrongly when we deter- 
mine from our wrong opinions that there cannot 
be three Persons in one Divine Being. 

There was a theologian, teaching at Ptolemais 
in upper Egypt the latter part of the third century 
A. D., who held that there is but one Person in 
the Godhead and that the Father is essentially 
that Person, with the Son and the Holy Spirit as 
manifestations of His personality. Had Sabellius 
said, one Being, he might have come nearer the 
truth than many trinitarians to-day, who think in 
terms of human persons when considering divine 
personality. For it is true that the Son of God 
coming to earth was a manifestation of God, “‘ the 
express image of His substance” (Heb. 1:3). 
And Jesus said, “ He that hath seen Me, hath 
seen the Father” (John 14:9). The Holy Spirit, 
too, has shown divine presence, at the baptism of 
Jesus; on the day of Pentecost; when leading 
God’s children into truth; wherever fruits of 
Christian life abound. 


THE TRIUNE BEING 71 


But neither Sabellius’ theory, nor the improve- 
ment of it just suggested, will suffice to impart to 
our minds a complete understanding of the identi- 
ties and the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 
Infinity cannot be grasped. But infinity is not ir- 
rational. There is nothing in the doctrine of the 
Trinity that militates against our reason. For the 
idea of three divine Persons in one divine Being 
goes beyond our reason only in the line of our 
reasoning. It does not deviate from it or run 
against it; because God is Truth. And through 
the untold ages yet to come the contemplation of 
this harmonious relation between the three Per- 
sons of the Godhead in the one Being will con- 
tinue to fascinate and draw our souls Godward in 
worship. 


The Holy Spirit 

The personality of the Father is accepted by 
all Theists. The deity of the Son of God will be 
considered more intimately in a later chapter. 
The personality of the Holy Spirit requires in this 
connection at least a brief study. To many wor- 
shipers of God, the Holy Spirit is “It.” It 
seems so much easier to think of the Father and 
the Son as persons, and to address them as such, 
than to commune with the Holy Spirit. Yet, in 
the Benediction that is used every Sunday at the 
dismissal of the congregation, “‘ the communion of 
the Holy Spirit ” (I Cor. 13:13) forms the climax. 


72 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


There is reason for this habit of religious think- 
ing. The Old Testament acquaints us with God 
in a way that makes us naturally think of the 
Father. The New Testament tells us the story 
of the Son of God, who actually walked and talked 
on earth. We think of the Father’s love and of 
the Son’s self-sacrifice. But the activities of the 
Spirit are so invisible. Therefore, we, to whom 
the tangible, the audible, and the visible appeal 
so greatly, think less of the manifestations of the. 
Holy Spirit. 

Although existing and active from all eternity, 
the Holy Spirit became more definitely related to 
the whole human race after Christ had completed 
His redemptive work. In the Old Testament He 
is usually mentioned as the Spirit of God. Jesus 
promises us the presence of the Spirit after His 
own departure (Jn. 8, 9), and in the world (Jn. 
16:8). This divine presence is felt in the Church 
(Acts 13: 2600 Cor 12313 phn 2:2 25 \ctsnd aaa 


The Functions of the Holy Spirit 


There are peculiar functions assigned to each 
of the three Persons, and those of the Holy Spirit 
are: 

1. The giving of life—-which might be termed 
the motherly phase of divine activity. 

a. The Spirit imparted and does still im- 
part life to all creation. (Gen. 1:2; 2:7; Ps. 
104:29, 30; Isa. 32:14, 15.) 


i) 


THE TRIUNE BEING 73 


b. The Holy Spirit is the source of new 
birth for mankind. (Jn. 3:5; I Cor. 11:3; 
Ps. 51:11.) 

c. The Spirit imparts to yielding hearts the 
power of bearing fruit. (Gal. 5:22; Eph. 
5:9.) 


. The teaching of God’s will to listening hearts. 


a. The Spirit of God imparts and stimu- 
lates natural wisdom. (Ex. 31:2-4; Job 
32:8.) This remains true to-day. Flashes of 
genius that bring to the world great discov- 
eries, are not customarily attributed to God’s 
Spirit; but He is their source, nevertheless. 
And God’s Spirit will speak to us, if we seek 
His instructions. 

b. The Spirit reveals divine truth. (Jn. 
16:13; I Cor. 2:10, 11.) This may be in the 
form of inspiration, dream, vision, or calling 
back to memory. It may be as possible 
to-day as it was in days long gone, but it 
must by its own necessity be in line with past 
revelation. And it should be forever remem- 
bered that in Jesus Christ God’s supreme 
revelation was made to the world. 

c. The Holy Spirit applies divine truth to 
the human heart. This will never cease. And 
for this we should ever look prayerfully; for 
only thus are we able to catch the meaning of 
God’s most precious promises both for this 
life and for that which is to come. 


74 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


3. The imparting of strength to weak humanity. 
a. The name ‘“ Comforter” does not pri- 
marily mean “giver of consolation,” but, 
centering on the stem “ fort,” it means “ giver 
of fortitude” or strength. In this sense the 
Holy Spirit is supremely our daily Com. 
forter; because~ His life-giving power may 
enter daily into our soul’s fibre. (Rom. 8:15.) 
b. The Holy Spirit assures us of divine 
Fatherhood, and thus imparts to us a sense 
of security in the midst of a trying world and 
in face of our own imperfections. (Rom. 
SP2hS LAS ee) 

4. The sanctifying of those who have begun the 
new life in Christ Jesus. This involves the daily 
growing in grace, the subduing of the old nature 
that is akin to the beast, and the growth of the 
new nature in righteousness and love after the 
order of Christ Jesus. (I Pt. 1:2; Eph. 4:24.) 


Divine Order 


There is perfect agreement among the Persons 
of the Godhead regarding their particular tasks. 
The Father plans; the Son works out the Father’s 
plans; the Holy Spirit establishes the work of 
Father and Son. Yet, all are active together. 
‘“ My Father worketh until now and I work,” says 
Jesus (John 5:17). “ The Spirit and the Bride 
say, Come.” 

There is, therefore, in the minds of the writers 


THE TRIUNE BEING 75 


of our sacred Scriptures not the slightest doubt 
regarding the oneness of God and His threefold 
Personality. 


SUGGESTIONS For DiscUssION 

1. The assigned papers on Unitarian and Trini- 
tarian doctrines. Leave its discussion till later. 

2. Compare as pieces of reliable testimony, Hindu, 
Old Mexican, Platonic and Bible teachings. 

3. Set out in contrast definite tendencies for good 
and for evil as shown in historic personages. 

4, Illustrate from experience the relationships be- 
tween the human powers of mind, their harmonious 
working, their divergencies, and their mutual de- 
pendence. 

5. Put on the blackboard after the names of each 
Person of the Godhead those operations that may 
rightly be assigned to each. 

6. Discuss the Unitarianism of the Old Testament 
as compared with the Trinitarian teachings of the 
New Testament, and note factors that brought about 
the change. 

7. Take up discussion of the two papers already 
read. 

8. For the next lesson let every student write out 
what Christ has personally meant to him. State- 
ments must be extremely concise. 

9. Request careful review of previous lessons. 


For Further Research 

Christian Doctrine, Ch. VI, VII, R. W. Dale. 

The Doctrine of the Trinity, Ch. VIII, J. R. Il- 
lingworth. 

he:.Ministry of ‘the Spirit,) Ch. Vj VEAL J: 
Gordon. 

What Shall I Believe?, A. H. Strong. 

Reading day by day: Jn. 14: 23-26; Jn. 20: 19-28; 
Rom. 7: 14-25; Eph. 4:1-7; Rom. 8: 26, 2h F€ors ree 
MAGS ARS aad Ob 1-5, fie, ri 





V 


THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS 
CHRIST 


think of His humanity and His deity and 
these two natures in their relationships; 
while a study of His work requires a consideration 
of His life and death with their significance for us. 
The entire Church—as well Roman as Protes- 
tant, with the exception of the Unitarians—be- 
lieves in Jesus Christ as Son of God and Son of 
man, two natures yet but one person. This won- 
derful fact of a divine and human nature in one. 
Person has been taken for granted without ques- 
tioning by most Christians; while some have pur- 
posely refrained from questioning because they 
feared that doubt or curiosity might indicate lack 
of faith or even sacrilege. But in these present 
studies we have not been taking things for granted. 
Rather have we sought for reasons for the faith 
that is in us. Our attitude has been that of the 
student—reverent, but persistent. Without pre- 
suming that the human mind is able to compre- 
hend the Infinite, and to understand in full the 


ways of God with men, we have endeavored to 
76 


|: a study of Christ as a Person we are led to 


THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS ‘17 


think God’s thoughts after Him. In the same 
spirit of earnest and humble inquiry, and with 
prayer for the promised guidance of God’s own 
Spirit, let us think of the union of God and man 
in the Person of Christ Jesus. 


The Physical Body of Jesus 


That in the days of Herod some nineteen hun- 
dred years ago a child was born at Bethlehem, 
who was named Jesus, whose mother’s name was 
Mary, and the name of whose supposed father was 
Joseph, is considered a historic fact. There is no 
controversy about it. There is a difference of 
opinion, however, on the matter of Joseph’s rela- 
tion to the birth of Jesus. There are people who 
believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, only- 
begotten, who also believe that Joseph was the 
physical father of Jesus. 

That this would be possible, who of us may 
deny? For who are we to set limits to the power 
of God, or to map out for Him the ways in which 
He shall operate. Besides, it is in itself quite con- 
ceivable that the Second Person of the Godhead 
should dwell within a body that was produced in 
the natural, God-ordained processes of procrea- 
tion. The first question is not, how the Son of 
God came to earth, but that He came to earth. 

There are leading reasons, however, why the 
great majority of Christians are justified in their 
belief in the Virgin Birth. 


78 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


1. Because the story of it, say in Matthew, 
forms an integral part of the Gospel. The same 
writer, who wrote the last twenty-six chapters, 
also wrote the first two chapters. There is not the 
slightest alteration in the use of language, in the 
manuscripts thus far discovered, that would set 
the story of the annunciation and the birth of 
Christ off by itself. Therefore, if we believe the 
Gospel, we should, in all fairness, believe the story 
of the Virgin Birth. 

2. Jesus came to earth as Son of God and Son 
of man. It was necessary that His body should 
be perfectly human; hence the need of being born 
of a woman. It might not be most helpful, how- 
ever, for the Son of man to be a Jew from both 
father’s and mother’s side. Jesus came into the 
world to be a brother to all of us, not simply of 
the Jews. His face and features, which, according 
to the Scriptures, remain with Him in the glorified 
life, might be of a more universal nature than the 
rather distinctive Hebrew face and features. Jesus 
is not the son of one people; but the Son of man, 
whom the Indian resembles, and the Chinese, and 
the African, as well as the Occidental. To the 
Jew, therefore, ‘there was no form or comeliness 
to him, that they should desire him.” (Isa. 53:2.) 

3. Had Joseph been the natural father of Jesus, 
his function would chiefly have been the impart- 
ing of vitality for growth to the cell in the body 
of Mary, that was to develop into the full-grown 


THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS ‘79 


body of Jesus. But the function of vitalizing is, . 
as we have already observed, supremely the func- 
tion of the Holy Spirit. Matthew informs us 
(ch. 1:18, 20) of this very fact; which is more 
elaborately confirmed by Luke (ch. 1:34, 35). 
And the complete integrity of Luke’s Gospel is 
equally assured with that of Matthew. In both 
Gospels it is clearly stated that Joseph was not 
the father of Jesus; but that the Holy Spirit sup- 
plied the vitalizing energy. So that, while it would 
have been quite possible, so far as we short- 
sighted humans are able to judge, for God to have 
dwelt in a body of which both Joseph and Mary 
were the parents, we have small excuse for reject- 
ing the clear testimonies of Scripture, which are 
sO very reasonable. 


The Wonderful Birth of Christ 


Every human birth is a most marvelous occur- 
rence. Dust and spirit, body and soul, are some- 
how brought together. Just how this can take 
place, it would be difficult for any of us to ex- 
plain. But we know that it does take place. We 
have ascertained that without the physical ap- 
paratus of the brain and its gray matter there 
can be for us humans no thinking. It has been 
fully demonstrated that injury to the brain-cells 
brings injury to the sufferer’s thinking. But how 
the mind works through the brain it would be diffi- 
cult to explain. We know that it occurs. The 


80 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


union of spirit and body on the part of a human 
being is a wonderful fact; but it is a fact. When 
Christ was born in Bethlehem there was taking 
place the most wonderful of all unions; for not 
merely was there in relation to that birth a coming 
together of soul and body; but with this union 
there was also united.the nature of the Son of God. 
We, who are unable to explain the presence of 
mind and body in such a way that one who reads 
or listens understands the processes step by step, 
we shall not attempt to explain the centering of 
two natures in the one Person Jesus Christ. But 
we have strong reasons for our faith in that fact. 


Why Two Natures in Christ Jesus? 


God is the supreme economist; He never does 
the futile or unnecessary. But He always takes 
care that the necessary is put into operation when 
His time comes. For centuries the human race 
had wandered ever farther from God; while the 
Father in heaven was planning all the while to 
send His Son to be the world’s Redeemer. But 
man had sinned, and kept on sinning. Man, there- 
fore, should experience the reward of sin. To a 
degree every sin brings its own punishment; but 
not in full. Only those who have come to think 
little of God do assert that all sin brings sufficient 
retribution. But those who have learned to adore 
God as the holy and benevolent Father, have also 
come to see the exceeding sinfulness of sin. They 


THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS 81 


are convinced that divine punishment is due every 
sinner. It was necessary, therefore, that a man 
should suffer the punishment of the human race. 

But every man had sinned and could bear only 
the punishment for his own sins. Not a human 
being through all the ages has ever had virtue to 
spare, whereby the iniquities of others might be 
counterbalanced. On the contrary, every human 
being is guilty. It required, then, a sinless man, 
to ‘‘ take away the sins of the world”; one who 
could truly represent the human race as one of 
them, yet sinless. That man was Jesus, the son 
of Mary, born in the Bethlehem stable these many 
centuries ago. 

It would be a serious misunderstanding of God, 
however, to think that He could punish humanity 
without Himself taking part in the suffering. And 
for two reasons God took part in the punishment 
for human transgression. First, because man 
alone was not strong enough. The infinite sins of 
the world called for infinite atonement. Had 
Jesus been man and nothing more, He could have 
suffered for His own sins; but He could not have 
carried the burdens of the world. For this the 
strength of God was requisite. This strength was 
supplied in the two natures, one of which was di- 
vine. The divine nature sustained Christ at only 
one point and for one purpose,—for the work of 
redeeming humanity. Jesus did not call in the 
forces of Deity to still His hunger, or to quench 


82 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


His thirst, or to keep Him from growing weary; 
but when a struggling race of men needed divine 
assistance, then the God-man came with His help. 

There was a second reason. When an earthly 
father punishes his child there is twofold suffer- 
ing, and that of the true father is the greater. 
When a righteous God meets out justice among 
men, there is grief and’anguish in the heart of 
God. There may be cruel fathers to whom the 
cries of a punished child mean nothing; but God 
is not so. In the Person of Christ Jesus the tri- 
une God came to earth and suffered for and with 
humanity. Therefore the God-man Christ Jesus. 


The Twofold Name for the Twofold Nature 


The name of Jesus was applied soon after the 
birth of the Bethlehem Babe, and always refers 
to our Saviour from the aspect of His humanity. 
Jesus, the man, did not exist as a conscious, living 
soul previous to that birth, any more than we so 
existed. The name Christ, on the other hand, re- 
fers invariably to the divine nature of our Re- 
deemer. The Christ was not born at Bethlehem; 
but had existed from all eternity. Of Him it is 
written, ‘In the beginning was the Word and the 
Word was with God and the Word was God” 
(jn. 1:1). Of Him Isaiah prophesied, more than 
eight hundred years in advance, ‘“ Unto us a Child 
is born, unto us a Son is given, . . . and His name 
shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, The 


THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS 83 


Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince 
of Peace.” (Isa. 9:6.) Of Himself, thus pre- 
existent, Jesus testified, ‘“‘ Before Abraham was I 
am” (Jn. 8:58). Our divine Teacher also tells 
of heavenly things which He had witnessed before 
His birth (Jn. 16:28). It was this identifying of 
Himself with God which drew upon Him more 
than anything else He did or said, the wrath of the 
Jewish leaders. 

To these sayings of our Lord may be added the 
testimony of Paul (Phil. 2:5-7), which, literally 
translated, reads, ‘‘ Let this mind be in you which 
was also in Christ Jesus, who, when He was exist- 
ing in the same way in which God exists, did not 
regard His equality with God something to cling 
to, but emptied Himself.” 


The Sympathizing Jesus 
The “ emptying of Himself ” on the part of the 
Son of God involves His becoming “ in all things 
tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 
4:15). The Babe Jesus was apparently as every 
other babe. In Luther’s sweet “ Cradle Hymn ” 
we read: 


“ The little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes.” 


But that is the exercise of poetical license, for 
crying is about the only thing babes in swaddling 
clothes can enjoy, and it is certain that Mary’s 
babe indulged in it heartily. For a year or so the 


84 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


child could not walk. First rolling over, then go- 
ing on all fours, then being able to stand up, and 
finally learning to walk, was the regular process. 
Similarly with the beginning of speech. In re- 
sponse to mother’s cooing the babe made efforts 
to form words. Only very gradually a vocabulary 
was acquired. Jesus could not read the Hebrew 
language from the start. Mary taught Him to 
read and write. Later He memorized portions 
from the Old Testament. Every school child may 
go to Jesus with confidence of sympathy; because 
Jesus passed through the essentials of their ex- 
periences. 

Jesus was an apprentice with His foster-father. 
It was needful for Him to master the carpenter’s 
trade, to learn how to saw straight, to hammer 
correctly, to cut and carve an easy yoke. Later, 
when Joseph passed away, Jesus became in turn 
the teacher and trainer of His brothers and the 
supporter of a numerous family. The responsi- 
bilities of the head of the house rested on Him. 
Parents can go to Jesus, knowing of His experi- 
mental sympathy. Workmen as well as employ- 
ers will find in Him one who knows. 

In body Jesus must have had “ the strength of 
ten, because His heart was pure.” But Jesus 
knew hunger and thirst, weariness and grief. 
Finally, when the Cross was laid on His shoulders, 
He was too weak to carry it to Golgotha. Then 
there was still the agony of the Cross to suffer. 


THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS 85 


In every condition of life we can go to Jesus and 
receive His deepest sympathy; for from His own 
life He knows the ‘“‘ feelings of our infirmities.” 

The mental powers of Jesus were contingent 
upon His body with its nervous system culminat- 
ing in the brain. The emptying of Himself in- 
cluded the limiting of Himself in powers of the 
intellect. The child Jesus had many questions to 
ask. It must have been a relief to Mary and 
Joseph to take Him to the Temple when He was 
twelve years of age, so that He could be ‘“ both 
hearing them and asking them questions,” on 
meeting the noted teachers of that day. Had 
Jesus been a precocious child, then our children 
might not find in Him the sympathetic Helper 
they confidently expect. The Scriptures He could 
quote in manhood, He had acquired in childhood 
and youth. So human was He that “ His own 
brethren believed not on Him ” (Jn. 7:5); nor the 
people of Nazareth among whom He lived for 
nearly thirty years. 

Jesus, Himself, during the deepest experiences 
of His life mentions His soul, ‘‘ My soul is exceed- 
ing sorrowful, even unto death” (Mk. 14:34), 
and at the moment of His death also His spirit, 
“Father, into Thy hand I commend My spirit ” 
(Lk. 23:46). These expressions are added evi- 
dences to the testimonies regarding His human 
nature. 


86 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


The Work of Jesus Christ 


When Jesus said, “My Father worketh until 
now and I also work,” He was giving us an insight 
into the life He had lived before His coming into 
the flesh. The works of Jesus may be summed 
up under the following heads: 

1. The forming of the worlds and all that they 
contain. ‘In the beginning was the Word. . . 
All things were made by Him.” By which we un- 
derstand that (Gen. 1:1) the Father created all 
things, causing chaos to be; while the Son brought 
order out of chaos, and gave form and beauty to 
creation. Further testimony to this is given us by 
Paul (Col. 1:16), and by the author of ‘“ He- 
brews ” (1:1-3). 

2. Forming friendships with men in a personal 
way. As it is His nature to communicate and to 
give expression to divine thought, we are justified 
in believing that through the person of the ex- 
pected Messiah, the Holy Trinity communicated 
preeminently with men. He who walked in Eden 
with our earliest ancestors during the cool of the 
evening; with Enoch until one day the two turned 
in at the gates of heaven; with Abraham at 
Mamre; with Moses during the desert journey, He 
was, we believe, the Son of God. Paul confirms 
this suggestion (I Cor. 10:4), and Jesus’ mention 
of Himself before the days of Abraham does at 
least hint at it. His name, Father of ages (Isa. 
9:6), also points in the same direction. 


THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS 87 


3. Living perfectly the divine program on earth. 
This involves three phases of His work: 

a. Jesus is our supreme example; our ideal. 
The praises of the Unitarlans are none too 
flattering. Here is all they say of Him: The 
Law and the Prophets were perfectly lived by 
Him. ‘To approach His ways of living is to 
approach the plan of God with our own lives. 

b. Jesus is our Counsellor. The wisdom 
of heaven was augmented by His personal 
taste of earth. Christ is the wisdom as well 
as the power of God (I Cor. 1:24); the 
Teacher come from God (Jn. 3:3). We can 
go to Him for sympathetic advice. 

c. Jesus is the Great Physician. He went 
about doing good,—healing the sick, com- 
forting the distressed, lifting the fallen, show- 
ing the way to the Father, and personally 
drawing others to the heart of God. Essen- 
tially this work He continues to do, through 
the activities of a faithful discipleship on 
earth, and by drawing lives toward Himself. 

4. Giving His life in sacrifice for us. If Christ 
were only our Ideal, the case would give us de- 
Spair; for we can never reach that Ideal. But 
Jesus is Himself ‘‘ The Way,” by surrendering His 
own life in sacrifice on the Cross. In His suffer- 
ing for sin, He was our representative. ‘‘ By His 
Stripes, we are healed.” 

5. Christ Jesus is now our great High Priest, 


* 


88 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


who “ever liveth to make intercession for us” 
(Heb. 7:25). He was and still is our Mediator 
by which we reach the heart of the heavenly 
Father. He is preparing a place for us (Jn. 
14:3), and in the life to come will walk with us in 
heavenly places (Eph. 2:5). Even now and here 
He is “ with us always ” (Matt. 28:20). 

6. Christ Jesus is to be Judge on that great, 
last Day, when all shall be gathered before Him 
(Matti25:3 2,732" onesie 25 RActs 10142 yer 
sympathy with human frailty, His wisdom aug- 
mented by human experience, and His kinship to 
our human nature, do peculiarly qualify Him for 
that stupendous task. Then, ‘“ every knee shall 
bow, and every tongue confess, that Jesus is the 
Christ’ oc CP ail 22 0ic) 


What We Owe to Christ 


There are various “ theories of the atonement,” 
but there is one fact on which all evangelical 
Christians are agreed. Jesus has by His life and 
death deserved a full claim on the life of every one 
of us. The children of God everywhere are ready 
to confess that they could never have been what 
they are and could never have enjoyed their Chris- 
tian privileges, had not Jesus Christ been willing 
to live His matchless life and to die His sacrificial 
death. As far as we are concerned, He accom- 
plished the purpose for which He came to earth, 


THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS 89 


the reconciling of the world to God. We owe our 
life to Christ. 

It follows that we are not first masters of our 
own life. Christ is our supreme Master. But 
God loved a whole world, and so did Christ. His 
purpose is not yet fulfilled, while a world is 
steeped in sin. We owe to Christ the redeeming 
of that world from sin. For that great redemp- 
tive work our lives must be living sacrifices to 
Him. The life and work of the Son of God cul- 
minating in His death, must be continued in the 
life and works of God’s children, culminating in 
the death of self and the rising anew in Christ 
Jesus. Pe 


SUGGESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


1. Have one-half of the students read what Christ 
has meant to them, and let the remainder verbally 
add to these testimonies. 

2. Reverently, but frankly, take up the spiritual 
phase of every childbirth; then that of Christ’s birth. 

3. Consider what the world would have lost, had 
Christ come to dwell in a human body as God but 
not as man. Or if He had come purely as man but 
not as God. 

4. Use every version and translation obtainable, of 
Phil. 2:6, and submit its meaning to the class. 

5. Go over the life of Jesus, as a learner of the 
language, of His father’s trade, of divine teachings, 
and of His environs, including men. 

6. Picture Jesus in your own community to-day, 
and decide whether He is wanted there by the people. 

7. Have the class write on paper and hand in at 


90 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


next period, suggestions for the adjustment of affairs 
on earth so that Jesus may be wanted to abide. 
8. Rapid review of previous lessons. 


For Further Research 

The Fact of Christ, P. Carnegie Simpson. 

Christian Doctrine, Ch. III, IV, R. W. Dale. 

The Christ We Forget, Ch. I, IX, P. Whitwell 
Wilson. 

The Diviner Immanence, Ch. XI, Francis J. Mc- 
Connell. 

Reading day by day: Matt. 1: 18-25; Isa. 9:6, 7; 
Jn. b21-14; Isa-61 2 1-3 3:0 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 1: T-14e 
Jn 10:1-11. 


VI 
THE WORD OF GOD 


the natural characteristics of man that are 

not sinful, may be thought of as similar to 
characteristics of God. Man thinks and loves and 
wills, and so does God. From the nature of man 
at his best we are able to form an idea of the 
nature of God. The likeness between God and 
man points from normal human traits to divine 
traits. 


ii man is made in the likeness of God, then 


Does God Speak? 


Among the normal human traits, that of self- 
expression stands out pronouncedly. We need 
and we like to give expression to our thoughts, 
and we do so chiefly by medium of words. Silence 
has its place in human life; but communication 
claims an equal place. The person who never 
communicates, or even attempts to communicate, 
is abnormal. As we know, then, that the desire to 
converse is a normal, human trait, we may confi- 
dently ascribe the same characteristic to God. It 
is the nature of God to converse. 


Previous to the creation of reasonable beings, 
91 


92 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


this conversation must have taken place between 
the Persons of the Godhead. There was also an 
expression of the divine mind in the creating and 
the forming of our visible universe, with the im- 
parting of life within creation. The things that 
are seen reveal almightiness, divine beauty, and 
God-given laws, or righteousness. But in the 
material world there is no liberal evidence of 
divine love and forgiveness. The infinite God lim- 
ited His self-expression in visible creation. Physi- 
cal nature does not and cannot serve as a perfect 
medium for the thoughts of the Invisible. Fora 
fuller revelation of God’s thoughts there came into 
being a better agency when God made man. 

How perfectly natural, then, was it to expect 
that God should converse with men! Here was 
at last a personality who possessed the power of 
reasoning, who was endowed with a desire for 
friendship, whose were the faculties of apprecia- 
tion and love. It would have been strange, indeed, 
had God failed to converse with man. And after 
God had entered into fellowship with man, it 
would have been passing strange had man failed 
to tell others of his wonderful experience. For 
the situation presented not only a divine nature 
that was desirous to communicate; but also a 
human nature that was in dire need of divine com- 
munication. Man could not get along very well 
without divine counsel. While our first parents 
were still rejoicing in their primal purity, their 


THE WORD OF GOD 93 


conversations with God were the natural out- 
growth of their mutual friendship. God coun- 
seled with them as friend with friend. But after 
sin had entered in to break that glorious relation 
between God and man, the human mind grew per- 
plexed and bewildered; the divine teaching re- 
garding life became imperative. Without com- 
munication from above, man neither knew how, 
nor did he desire to walk the pathway of life. He 
found himself in need of warning, encouragement, 
and light. 

We have these reasons, then, for believing there 
is a Word of God: 

1. It is the nature of God to converse. 

2. In time God gave partial expression of His 
mind through the visible universe; but the agency 
was not sufficient for the fuller expression of His 
sublimest attributes. 

3. The human being was capable of fuller com- 
munication from God, and a more personal re- 
sponse to God than was the material world. 

4. Man grew peculiarly needful of divine 
counsel. 


Which is the Word of God? 


Convinced of the fact of a@ Word of God in 
some form, it still remains for us to assure our- 
selves, which of the numerous sacred writings for 
which the title has been claimed, may really be the 
Word of God. From childhood up, we Christian 


94 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


people have been accustomed to award that claim 
exclusively to the Bible. Not without valid rea- 
sons has this been our belief. No book in all the 
world has exerted so wholesome an influence on 
nations, communities, and individuals. No book 
has been accepted as authoritative by so many 
mighty minds, or has stimulated such vigorous 
thinking. Nevertheless, our customary faith has 
been subjected to merciless criticism, and we do 
well to found our faith on a sure basis. 

In the main, popular beliefs regarding the Bible 
as the Word of God are divided as follows: 

1. Those whom we have learned to know as 
Materialists, or Atheists, or Agnostics now appear 
as Rationalists. They reject the idea of any au- 
thority but their own reason, to which in some in- 
stances the authority of the reason on the part of 
others is added. These Rationalists are fond of 
claiming that they are the broadest and most 
liberal of all thinking people. The fact is, how- 
ever, that none are narrower than they. 

a. The Rationalist reckons with the intel- 
lect alone. But the human being is not 
merely a thinking person; he is also a loving 
person, and a willing person. The whole 
human being should be operative when au- 
thority is in question. ‘The reason alone, 
without the aid of will and feeling, is like a 
bean-pole, tall and thin, but lacking a strong 
foundation. It is certain to spin out theories 


THE WORD OF GOD 95 


like spiders that spin cobwebs, out of them- 
selves, without the test of life. 

b. The Rationalist cannot make truth any 
more than we can make truth. We cannot 
make time; we are able to use time economi- 
cally. We cannot make space; but are able 
to employ space prudently. Time and space 
are from all eternity. Truth, too, is from 
eternity. We may get hold of it and think 
upon it; but we can never make truth. In- 
vented truth is falsehood. And the final 
revelation of truth is of God. 

2. Pantheists, usually known, too, as liberal, 
have much more in their favor than Rationalists. 
They hold that inasmuch as all truth is divine, the 
Bible is daily being written, page by page, and 
will be written world without end. For old things 
pass away and all things are ever becoming new. 

This sounds attractive, does it not? Just as the 
Pantheistic philosophy is attractive. Like it, this 
idea of divine revelation contains much truth. For 
if it is the nature of God to communicate, then 
such communication should continue through the 
ages. And it does. But scarcely in the manner 
which the Pantheists assert. 

a. Divine revelation does not come from a 
personal God, according to the Pantheist; but 
is the world-mind coming to self-conscious- 
ness. As we are part of that mind, there is 
this mental activity within us that is but a 


96 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


spark of the great flame of divine thought. 
Every thought, therefore, that comes to us, 
is divine and authoritative,—thoughts for 
evil as well as thoughts for good. But for us 
this assertion wholly disqualifies human 
thought as authoritative. 

b. The Pantheist neglects the fact of 
Christ as the supreme revelation of God. 
The Word of God, as we accept it, points in 
its earlier writings toward the coming Son of 
God, then portrays to us the life and teach- 
ings of the Son of God, and goes on to cen- 
tralize our hearts and minds still on the re- 
demptive work of God in Jesus Christ. So is 
Christ the center of the whole Bible. We 
believe that God still communicates with 
men; but we hold that in the Bible there is 
germinally the presentation of the whole 
truth of God toward man. We read other 
books by those who testify of their com- 
munion with God, and we find these edifying 
so long as they are in harmony with the 
teachings of the Bible. No sooner do they 
depart from that teaching, than we sense an 
erring spirit, which it were hurtful for us to 
follow. 

3. There is a third group, represented by the 
Roman Catholics, who hold that God’s Word is 
most surely revealed when the greatest company 
of learned and pious Christian people gather in 


THE WORD OF GOD 97 


council and set down a creed to which the great 
majority of them agrees. This creed, then, be- 
comes authoritative for the world. 

Our friends from Rome have approached the 
right conception more nearly than have Rational- 
ists and Pantheists. It was in some such councils 
as they suggest that the books of our Bible were 
determined upon. Unfortunately, in those days in 
which the creeds of Roman Catholics were formed, 
the Church was most dreadfully lack in morals. 
A number of her counsellors were neither learned 
nor pious. It goes without saying that children of 
the Reformation cannot conscientiously accept the 
decrees of those Councils as their rule of faith and 
practice. 

It may be added by way of reminder, that those 
Councils, too, were unable to make truth; they 
could only discover it at best. 

4. Exactly opposite to Roman Catholics are the 
Friends, or Quakers. To them the Word of God, 
carrying highest authority, is the still, small voice 
within each worshiper. 

This carries the tenderest of suggestions; for 
God speaks to His people individually. It were 
well for each of us to listen sharply for the voice 
divine. Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged 
that revelation of that kind remains extremely in-. 
dividualistic. God’s truth must be universally: 
applicable. But who shall guarantee to me the: 
revelation that came to you; unless a similar word 


98 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


has reached me, too, either direct from God or 
from the acknowledged revelation of God else- 
where? The witness of one heart needs to be 
witnessed to from other hearts. As Jesus said, 
‘Out of the mouth of two or three witnesses every 
word shall be established.” (Matt. 18:16.) 


Why Accept the Bible? 


It is at least interesting to know that sacred 
writings have been accepted authoritatively among 
the most advanced peoples. The writings of Con- 
fucius became the rules of conduct for all China. 
The writings of priests and magi in Egypt and 
Babylon were accepted as laws by the respective 
peoples. The Greeks bowed to the oracles of 
Delphi. The Romans had their Sibylline books. 
Mohammed was not slow to take advantage of 
these popular feelings and speedily wrote the 
Koran. To this day men and women, who have 
wished to start a cult, have diligently set them- 
selves to writing—witness Joseph Smith, Mrs. 
Eddy, Pastor Russell, and others of their type. 

This still leaves us with the question, ‘‘ Why 
select the Bible? ” The reasons are so manifold 
that a full enumeration of them would unduly 
lengthen these discussions. A few leading reasons 
should suffice, if we keep in mind that God by His 
own nature inclines to make Himself known in 
words as well as in works. 

I. The contents of the Bible appeal to the 


THE WORD OF GOD 99 


human heart at its best. There are portions in 
other sacred books that make a strong appeal; but 
almost invariably other portions in the same books 
are unspeakably disgusting; they breathe so low 
a spirit. 

a. The Bible is a unit in moral and spiritual 
loftiness. Sin is everywhere denounced as 
sin, and he who commits it, no matter what 
his position, is declared guilty. But right- 
eousness, truth, altruism, and grace are con- 
sistently exalted. 

b. The warnings, commands, encourage- 
ments, and suggestions of the Bible are so 
perfectly wholesome and true. We may not 
always relish the humility they demand, or 
the denials they expect; but we know they 
are irrefutably the best. 

c. The promises of the Bible meet our 
hopes, and they prove true in life. God is 
behind and underneath them; we never com- 
mit mistakes by acting on them. 

2. Wherever the Bible has been practiced it has 
been for the “ healing of the nations.” It is writ- 
ten, “ By their fruits ye shall know them.” The 
fruits of the Bible are good; they witness to its 
divine origin. Our American education has its 
origin in Bible study. Our colleges were first 
founded for sake of Bible study. Our hospitals 
and charitable homes are the results of Bible 
teaching. Prohibition, the abolition of slavery, 


100 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


child-labor laws, woman’s suffrage, in short, all 
wholesome measures are the consequences of Bible 
teaching. Sin and the Bible are not congenial to- 
gether. Where one rules, the other is rejected. 
The love of God and of man form the supreme 
teachings of the Bible and they also form the 
greatest joys of life. 

3. The centre of the Bible is Jesus Christ. 
Those who do not accept the Bible as authorita- 
tive, do usually hesitate before wholly denying 
Christ. But the authority and standard of Christ 
are rooted and grounded in our acceptance of the 
Bible. The Gospels that were written for no pur- 
pose but to tell of Him, could never have portrayed 
His perfect character, had its writers been untrue 
men. All other portions of the Bible are in full 
agreement with the Gospels. The written Word 
which we know as our Bible, is for the express pur- 
pose of revealing to mankind “‘ The Word made 
flesh.” Therefore, we accept it as the Word of 
God. 


The Divine-Human Quality of the Bible 


As Jesus Christ is both God and man, so is the 
Bible a product of divine and human agency. The 
men who wrote this Book came out of the pres- 
ence of God. They had been divinely led and they 
spoke from their experience with the Eternal. In 
what way the divine and human agencies blended 


THE WORD OF GOD 101 


in the production of the Bible may be made clearer 
by a look at the life and writings of Hosea. 

The prophet Hosea lived in the northern king- 
dom of Israel during the days of Jeroboam II. 
The people enjoyed temporal prosperity and 
trusted, therefore, that all was well with them. 
But they forgot God, worshiped idols, and were 
fast moving toward their doom. In the days of 
Moses, Jehovah had entered into a relation of mar- 
riage with Israel. He was the husband; they were 
His wife, similar to the New Testament idea of 
Christ, the Bridegroom, and the Church, which is 
His Bride. 

When the people continued in their wanderings 
away from Jehovah, He commissioned Hosea to 
act out his part in a sacred drama, in which 
Israel’s wanderings and Jehovah’s faithfulness 
might be portrayed. The prophet married a 
woman by the name of Gomer, apparently of none 
too respectable character. But Gomer lived with 
her husband for a year or two in happiness. Then 
a former lover came to that home and persuaded 
her to leave Hosea with him. In time, that se- 
ducer was through with her and sold her into 
white slavery. Then the word of God came to 
Hosea the second time, bidding him to redeem the 
woman from her degradation and to take her 
home. Hosea went searching for her till he found 
her; paid the redemptive price, and took her home 
again. 


102 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


No greater bitterness could eat into a man’s soul 
than what Hosea had experienced. But it was 
analogous to the grief that comes to the heart of 
God when His children wander away from Him. 
Hosea’s love for Gomer was only a faint echo of 
God’s love for us, and was symbolic of it. Drink- 
ing that bitter cup prepared the prophet for the 
writing of the Gospel of the Old Testament, “I 
will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely ” 
(ch. 14:4). How could he have penned such 
words, had not this personal experience come to 
him? 

Essentially, what was true of the causes and oc- 
casions that brought forth Hosea’s prophecy, is 
true of the entire Bible. It was necessary for the 
sacred writers first to taste the meaning of divine 
love and to see the righteousness of God operative 
within them and about them, before they could 
convey their teachings to others. Isaiah, Jere- 
miah, Ezekiel, and Daniel were men of deep, per- 
sonal experience with God. They spoke and wrote 
of what they felt. They yielded to the influences 
of the Spirit. They allowed God to take control 
of their steps. They enjoyed conversations with 
the heavenly Father. They looked at the world 
from the standpoint of heaven. At times even in 
their sleep their communion with God continued 
and they dreamed of things to be. Or in the day- 
time their thoughts were so completely centered 


THE WORD OF GOD 103 


on God that they saw visions. They were spirit- 
moved. 

Similar experiences came to the Apostles and 
their most intimate companions from whose pens 
we have the New Testament. They let themselves 
be led by the Promised Spirit; their theme was 
Jesus Christ. 


Parts Less Vital, But True 


Not all the Scriptures were produced under such 
white-heat as Hosea felt in his heart. Such books 
as ‘‘ Kings,” and “ Chronicles,” did not result 
from personal experience so much as from secre- 
tarial records. Nothing has thus far appeared to 
gainsay their accuracy. The men who sifted all 
writings, and judged these books sufficiently in- 
spired to keep company with “ Moses and the 
Prophets,” considered their records accurate. We 
do not depend upon them for our salvation; but 
we are glad to peruse their contents; for here and 
there we discover wonderful touches of divine- 
human truth. 

There are portions in the writings of Moses 
which Jesus no longer accepts as binding (Matt. 
19:8), and which, accordingly, the church may 
still read with interest, but need no longer follow 
as a rule of conduct. “An eye for an eye and a 
tooth for a tooth,’ is not the teaching of Jesus. 
In similar way the Apostle Paul suggests that 
some of his writings are authoritative because they 


104 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


are given of God; while others are purely sug- 
gestive; because they are born of his own mind, 
“ But to the rest say I, not the Lord” (I Cor. 
7:12). In such a book as Job one must continu- 
ously be on his guard to discern what sayings 
might claim authority and what parts are human 
invention. ; 

The safe rule in all cases is the touchstone of 
Christ’s life and teaching. Whatever disagrees 
with that cannot be authoritative for us. 


The Formation of the Canon 


By “canon” is meant the whole Bible as ac- 
cepted by the Church. The word itself denotes a 
measuring-rod, and this is happily indicative of 
the way in which our present Bible has gained its 
place of honor. Men, who were presumably 
qualified to judge, applied tests to the writings of 
their day for which divine authority was claimed. 
They sifted out what seemed unworthy and re- 
tained what appealed to them as of divine origin. 

This sifting began among the Hebrews. Such 
men as Ezra, in company with leading scholars of 
that day, subjected to the closest scrutiny each 
book, compared it with such accepted writings as 
the Law of Moses, and accepted or rejected ac- 
cordingly. Usually, a whole book was thus ac- 
cepted when every part rang true, or rejected if 
parts, that evidently belonged to the book, did not 
ring true. ‘Through a similar process the New 


THE WORD OF GOD 105 


‘Testament books have been chosen; though the 
sifting seems to have taken place more generally by 
the whole Church. Naturally, that which was out 
of harmony with the abiding teachings of the Old 
Testament was not admitted in the New Testa- 
ment. Again, only what was written by the Apos- 
tles or their intimate companions received a place 
in the Canon. 

The basis of this rule has already been inti- 
mated. The teachings and the life of Jesus Christ 
stand supreme before the Church, containing the 
germs of all truth necessary for salvation and for 
the governing of human behavior. 

These writings have been copied and translated; 
not one of the original writings is now among us. 
‘The majority of Christian people read the Bible 
in their own language, translated for them by men 
who are supposed to understand both the original 
and their own native tongue. There is unques- 
tionably an element of risk in this. But copies 
and translations have been diligently compared 
and we know that our American Bible, in what- 
ever version, presents essentially the messages of 
God to our hearts. For accuracy, the latest ver- 
sions, written by true scholars, are almost certain 
to be the best. 

Our Bible is justly called the Word of God. It 
‘comes to us from God through divinely chosen 
men, who were under the influence of the Holy 
Spirit. 


106 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


The Purpose of the Bible 
The purpose of the Bible is not to acquaint us 
with scientific facts; or to save us the work of 
thinking out the world’s problems. But whatever 
statements the Bible contains regarding scientific 
facts have not thus far been refuted by the latest 
discoveries of science. And thinking is invariably 
stimulated by a study of the Bible. The one great 
purpose of the Bible is to make known God’s 
thoughts of righteousness and grace toward 
humankind. Through no other message may we 
understand so fully the love of our heavenly 
Father, Who asks us to repent from our sins and 
to turn to Him, that we may walk the way of life 

with Jesus Christ as our Companion. 


SUGGESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Elicit arguments against the blind acceptance of 
the Bible and then turn to the Bible itself, whether 
such acceptance is required. 

2. If among the members of the class there should 
come a clash between their reason and the Bible, 
where would their decision lie? 

3. If it should come to a clash between the reason. 
and the assured mandate of God, where must the 
decision lie? 

4, Let each class member suggest portions of the 
Bible that have supremely appealed to him. Combine 
these portions and see what essentials are lacking. 

5. Discuss an “ Abbreviated Bible.” 

6. Let there be personal testimony of “ The Inner 
Voice,’ and discuss its value. 

7. Have the group formulate anew their harmoni- 
ous Creed, and consider the virtues and dangers of 
requiring that Creed from others. 


THE WORD OF GOD 107 


8. Have several tell what influence the Bible has 
had on their plans, actions, and views of life. 

9. Assign for Bible reading, Gen. 1 and 2; Psalm 
139. 


For Further Research 

Our Reasonable Faith, Ch. I, Park Hays Miller. 

God’s Message to the Human Soul, Ch. II, ITI, 
John Watson (Ian Maclaren). 

The Divine Inspiration of the Bible, Ch. I, W. E. 
Vine. 

The Bible the Word of God, Ch. II, F. Bettex. 

Reading day by day: Isa. 55; Ps. 34:11-18; Ps. 
119: 9-16; Jn. 5: 39-47; Jn. 10: 27-36; I Pt. 1: 16-25; 
II Tim. 3: 14-17. 


VII 
MAN’S ORIGIN AND NATURE 


there lived the first philosopher, some of 

whose sayings have been preserved. 
Thales said, “ Know thyself.” But people paid © 
little attention to his words, until Socrates re- 
peated his epigram, “ Know thyself.” To him 
only a few did listen. In more modern times Alex- 
ander Pope wrote a poem, entitled, ‘“ An Essay 
on Man,” the first line of which runs, “ The proper 
study of mankind is man.” In his day psychology 
began to be studied with some zest, if not with 
great accuracy. The last subject human beings 
feel inclined to study is self. In this chapter we 
plan to turn the light on ourselves in our relation 
to God and to each other. 


S: hundred years before the birth of Jesus 


How Did We Come Into Being? 


Just as there are in the main three schools of 
thought regarding God and the world, so are there 
three leading views of our origin. 

1. The materialistic view. The human body is 
claimed to have passed through an infinite series 
of stages from the primeval cell to its present 
stature by the course of natural law and progress. 


Moving onward in the animal world by dint of in- 
108 


MAN’S ORIGIN AND NATURE — 109 


herent stimulus and acquired capacity, the animal 
now called man, came to surpass all other animals 
and grew into possession of the earth’s master- 
brain. ‘The senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, 
and smell, and whatever other senses he may 
possess or may have possessed, played their part 
so well, that their constant messages through the 
nervous system originated a sort of headquarters 
in the cranium, at which main ganglion the work 
of calculating, reasoning, and deciding became the 
order of the day. For all practical purposes it 
may be admitted that man has a mind; but only 
while sensations last. Impressions through the 
senses act upon the nervous system and stimulate 
reaction. Of these actions and reactions life con- 
sists. There is no unseen self behind the scenes; 
no free will to choose between the better and the 
worse. Man is an animated machine, acting in 
every instance according to inherited tendencies 
and the influences of environment. The human 
soul is nothing more than a concentrated series of 
sensations. At death sensations cease; hence, 
there is then no more soul. This theory was pro- 
pounded years ago by David Hume and is still rife 
among modern Materialists. In fact, with many 
students of psychology the sum and substance of 
their interests is biology. Only that has meaning 
to them, into which they can plunge the knife, or 
which they can put on the scales. 

What pessimism and melancholy this view of 


110 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


human existence would bring us regarding the 
future life we shall consider later. Let us see what 
it means here and now. 

a. The idea of a temporary soul as a re- 
sultant of the sensations, has little in its 
favor, when other animals with keener senses 
are made a subject of study. The eagle can 
see farther and more keenly than man; the 
mole can feel more acutely; the dog is a more 
accurate smeller; the wolf can hear better, 
and, from all appearances, the pig enjoys as 
strong a taste as man. Why did not within 
their bodies some sort of soul develop? Man’s 
senses are comparatively weak; why such 
great results from such insignificant causes? 
Yet, without acknowledgment of the hand of 
God in the making of man, the materialist is 
bound by his theories to find this material 
cause. 

b. But suppose men’s senses kad been 
keener from ages back until manhood was 
reached, how did this happen? Was it en- 
vironment? Or native initiative? This ques- 
tion touches not merely the making of man, 
but it concerns the whole scheme of material- 
istic evolution. Initiative has to be posited 
somewhere; but the materialist refuses to 
posit it in God. 

c. This teaching puts our kinship with 
brutes and vegetables and the mineral world 


MAN’S ORIGIN AND NATURE § 111 


alone, and not with God. Acknowledging a 
phase of life, that constantly relates us to 
matter; we also claim a higher relationship 
and that with God Himself. 

d. Our animal being without divine kin- 
ship calls for expression through the body 
only. Perfect expression is then ascertained 
by following the brute instincts of selfishness, 
anger, greed and lust. This we see actually 
in operation on the part of out-and-out mate- 
rialists. They hate service, despise humility, 
exult in pride, revel in free-love, and ever- 
more seek their own. 

e. The evils just enumerated, and countless 
others that naturally follow in their train, are 
not considered sins by the Materialist; they 
are physical impressions. If they should de- 
serve occasional criticism because of their 
excesses, they must be regarded as steps up- 
ward on the ladder of civilization. 

f. Inasmuch as this life soon ends and there 
is no hereafter, the old proverb of the liber- 
tine is still heard, “‘ Let us eat and drink and 
be merry; for to-morrow we shall die.” How 
difficult for humans with unattained ideals to 
subscribe to such a philosophy of life, or even 
to understand the aims and aspirations of 
those who do subscribe to this philosophy! 
Spiritually those who so think and live do die. 

2. The Pantheistic view. This view of human 


112 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


life also agrees with the general trend of the Pan- 
theistic world-view that has been previously con- 
sidered. Assuming that God is all, and all is God, 
the presence of God is specially manifest in the 
human being. Through the human mind the 
thoughts of God-nature find their highest and 
clearest utterances. From the days of the earliest 
cell from which man sprang, until now, the divine 
man has gradually unfolded itself. This process 
will continue world without end. ‘‘ Some call it 
evolution, and others call it God.” 

As usual this Pantheistic view looks pretty, and 
sounds sweet, and very wise. As usual, also, a 
closer look reveals less amiable features of face 
and sound of voice. The difference between Pan- 
theism and Materialism is largely one of words 
and phrases. 

a. When man forms part of the world-soul, 
his individuality, his personal nature has been 
sacrificed. This is equally true of such cults 
as Christian Science, in which Mrs. Eddy, at- 
tracted by what she could ascertain of Pan- 
theism, gave up the idea of persons, that a 
universal activity might be evolved. 

b. When man collectively forms all there 
is of God, there is no God remaining, either, 
whom man may worship; except this sum- 
total of human souls. This is what actually 
happens in a Christian Science Prayer Meet- 


# 


MAN’S ORIGIN AND NATURE = 113 


ing. It may prove interesting and flattering; 
but our personal Father is out of it. 

c. As with the Materialist, so there is in 
Pantheism no sin; for man is part and parcel 
of the Eternal; who, of course, cannot sin. 
The nearest approach to sin is error, and that 
will surely be corrected in time. 

In some form the teachings just stated and con- 
sidered are held by all those who do not accept 
the Christian view. There are attractive phases 
to them, but a closer examination makes them ab- 
horrent. Unless we are thoroughly versed in the 
right conceptions, we are certain to sway our souls 
in the wrong direction. But if we fully under- 
stand our Christian teachings we are immune to 
contagion. 

3. The Christian view. The Christian looks on 
human life as brought into existence by God, not 
in the general way in which the mineral and animal 
worlds were created and formed; but in a far more 
intimate way. The Christian is convinced that 
man is supremely a soul, and that as a soul think- 
ing, willing, and feeling, he bears resemblance to 
God. He also knows that his body comes from 
the dust and will eventually return to dust by the 
natural processes of human life, and that the 
tendencies and powers of that body show much re- 
semblance to the tendencies and powers of animals. 
Essentially, all Christians are agreed as to their or- 
igin from God, their present relationship with God, 


114 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


and their ultimate destiny in God. In unessentials 
there is not full agreement. We might, therefore, 
omit these minor matters in our present studies. 
But because on the one hand some good people 
mistake these unessentials for essentials, and on 
the other hand whole groups of people who have 
missed their Christian training are possessed by 
materialistic or Pantheistic views, we are willing 
to review the two Christian presentations. Re- 
member that the essential question never is or can 
be, Aow God made man; but whether God made 
man. And on the latter there is full agreement. 

a. Many devout believers maintain that 
God on the sixth day of creation took earth, 
fashioned it into the form of the human body, 
including bones, nerves, muscles, hair, brain, 
and everything. Into this form Jehovah im- 
parted His living breath and man became a 
living soul. 

b. Many devout believers hold that the 
first chapters of “Genesis”? are a_ poetic 
presentation of a sublime fact, true because 
ascribing to God the making of man with his 
physical nature coming from the earth, and 
his spiritual nature derived from God; but 
not an effort to describe scientifically the 
processes whereby God brought man into the 
world. They believe that God directed the 
creative forces that from stage to stage out 
of cell-life and originally from the earth it- 


MAN’S ORIGIN AND NATURE 115 


self shaped the body of man-to-be in a way 
generally similar to the development of the 
human foetus in its prenatal stages to this 
day. They believe that according to the Bible 
story, when the bodily organism had reached 
completeness, the divine touch imparted that 
personal essence that was after the likeness 
of God, which distinguished man from all 
creation, as a thinking, feeling, willing being, 
on whom responsibilities rested, and to whom 
immortality was granted. 


Reasons for the Christian View 


The fact of God and the fact of the human soul 
stand or fall together. If there is no God, there 
is no place in the world’s economy for a human 
soul. If there is no human soul, it does not con- 
cern us whether there is a God. We have in a 
previous chapter considered our reasons for be- 
lieving in God. Let us briefly state reasons for 
believing this body of ours is the dwelling-place 
of a soul. 

1. The spiritual direction of the universe sug- 
gests a spiritual direction of the human body. 
There is purpose evident in the world; there is 
purpose equally evident in our behavior. And 
purpose points to personality. 

2. God shows an interest in man that cannot be 
accounted for except for personality. One man, 
Jesus says, is worth more to God than a whole 


116 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


physical world. Nothing but soul-value could 
weigh thus heavily in the scales of heaven. 

3. Man’s tendency to worship God reveals a 
force within him that must be spiritual. For it is 
a search for fellowship beyond brute creation. It 
witnesses to man’s kinship with God. 

4. The actual-capacity of man for thought 
speaks volumes on behalf of his origin. Descartes, 
one of the earliest philosophers of modern times, 
exclaimed, Cogito, ergo sum,—“ I think, therefore 
Iam.” If necessary we might even say, ‘‘ 1 doubt, 
therefore I am.” For the very fact that we are 
able to doubt the existence of God and the pres- 
ence of a soul within us, is proof of our identity 
as a rational being, and with it is proof of God. 

5. There are resident in us even greater powers 
than those of the intellect. We can love, we can 
admire ideals and strive toward them. We are 
able to suffer wrong that good may be established. 
These fruitions are not of the body; they have 
their source in a soul that is made in the likeness 
of God. 

We Ought; But Are We Able? 

Immanuel Kant once exclaimed, “I ought, 
therefore I can.” The same statement has been 
voiced by many people, including Christians. It 
sounds so reasonable. Surely, nothing must be 
expected of me but what I am able to do! Jesus 
said, “Be ye perfect, even as your Father in 
heaven is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48.) Either, there- 


MAN’S ORIGIN AND NATURE = 117 


fore, we can be perfect, or the requirement is 
unjust. Or is there, perhaps, a third possibility? 
Has God made man perfect; and has man volun- 
tarily altered his capacity by acting against the 
plan of God? 

The answer is given us in the earlier chapters 
of ‘“ Genesis.”” God looked upon His handiwork, 
man included, and “it was very good” (Gen. 
1:31). Later, man, this most wonderful handi- 
work of God, to whom the Almighty had imparted 
something of His own sovereignty, set his will 
against the divine will. Had he not possessed that 
power, he could not have been true man; but he 
abused his gift. There occurred a break in his 
relationship with God. This act of disobedience 
made itself felt to the depths of man’s nature. 
The nerves even, that had served to make re- 
sponse to temptation, became a path along which 
similar responses might more readily be made. 
The Bible calls it corruption. If the body was 
thus affected by sin, how much more the soul! 

Man, as God made him, could say, “‘ I ought, 
therefore I can.” But man, as he placed himself, 
could no longer say with that same confidence, “ I 
can.” His splendid powers were marred; his re- 
sisting forces were lowered. When his first child 
was born, there was a handicap for the little one, 
of which his parents had not known before they 
sinned. Besides, the environment of sinful parents 
was not so congenial to that growing life, as had 


118 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


been the environment of the parents before they 
committed evil. In every way the entrance of sin 
had wrought its terrible havoc. 


What Is Sin? 


The word sin sounds no longer familiar; not be- 
cause sinning is an unfamiliar activity; but be- 
cause the heinousness of sin is so generally laughed 
out of court. But this does not alter the fact of 
sin. We have already taken notice of Material- 
ists and Pantheists to whom the word “sin” has 
an odd sound. There is a group of people tinc- 
tured with both Christianity and Pantheism, to 
some extent also with Materialism, who have their 
own idea of sin. The greatest mistake anyone can 
commit, they hold, is to let his own pleasure be 
regarded of greater importance than the pleasure 
of another. Sin, then, is selfishness. If everybody 
would quit rooting for self and would think suffi- 
ciently of others, Eden would be back on earth 
again. 

This theory of our moralists is true so far as 
it goes; but it does not go far enough. Christians 
look at life in relation to God first; then come 
their fellow-men. David cried out, “‘ Against Thee 
only have I sinned and done this evil in thy 
sight ” (Ps. 51:4). No matter against whom sin 
has been committed, its greatest evil is that God 
has been disobeyed. This evil manifests itself in 
three ways, 


MAN’S ORIGIN AND NATURE = 119 


1. Sin brings about the loss of communion and 
friendship with God. This is its most deplorable 
feature. Our own children come to meet us with 
happy faces and outstretched hands, till one day 
they have been disobedient. We expected to meet 
them joyously; but they mope. This happened 
when our first parents had sinned. When God 
came for a walk with them, they were hiding be- 
hind the bushes. 

2. Sin acknowledges the mastery of our animal 
nature over the God-implanted spirit. It is a de- 
nial of our likeness to God and puts us on the level 
of the brute. We have ideals, inspired of God, 
but these we let sink to follow physical instincts. 
As God is greater than His world, so is the soul 
greater than the body; but sin tends to reverse this 
relation. It puts the soul in a grade below the 
body. 

3. Sin hurts our fellow-men. At times our sins 
are directed against our equals. We commit those 
selfish sins of which moralists rightly speak. We 
wilfully hurt others, that we may gain some ad- 
vantage. At other times this is not our purpose; 
but sin always leads to this. For when we sin, 
we disqualify ourselves for the service of God on 
behalf of men. Where we might have helped, we 
fail. Others counted on us; but we disappoint 
them. Even their faith in God may suffer when 
we, who have confessed His name, go contrary to 
His will. 


120 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


The Consequences of Sin 


We have already intimated the terrible results 
of sin. Briefly may we reiterate: 

1. Sin causes physical deterioration. The 
human face shows the presence and the effects 
of sin. 


“ Beautiful thoughts make a beautiful soul 
And a beautiful soul makes a beautiful face.” 


2. Sin causes moral and spiritual deterioration. 
With every act of sin the resisting power lessens; 
it becomes more difficult to refrain from sin. 

3. Sin causes a hardening of the heart. A ten- 
dency to justify oneself arises, together with a 
diminishing warning of conscience. The place 
for repentance recedes with every new sin. 

4. Sin dishonors man’s Maker. Because there 
is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, more 
than over ninety and nine just persons who need 
no repentance (Lk. 15), therefore it has been 
taken for granted all too readily that sin is in a 
sense necessary to bring out the greater glory of 
divine grace. But this opinion is altogether be- 
side the truth. Sin in itself never brings honor 
to God; it casts dishonor on His name. Divine 
warnings against sin and the explicit teachings of 
our Lord combine to oust any rights that sin might 
claim for its existence. 

a. Divine warnings. A compilation of the 
innumerable warnings in the Bible against 


MAN’S ORIGIN AND NATURE. 121 


sin would require the quoting of nearly half 
the divine messages. A synopsis of all such 
teachings is found in the Decalogue. It is 
scarcely conceivable, however, that God 
should first issue commands and then feel 
honored in their breach. Divine commands 
and warnings were given in order to procure 
obedience. The disobedience recorded in the 
Bible is like the children’s slamming doors 
into their parents’ faces. 

b. Definite teaching of Jesus. In the sec- 
ond parable of Luke, the fifteenth chapter, 
Jesus tells of a woman who had received ten 
pieces of silver. We know from oriental cus- 
toms that this was her wedding present and 
was given as a pledge and seal of marriage. 
To lose one piece would mean disturbance in 
their marriage relations; it would suggest a 
break. One day she discovered to her horror 
that a piece was gone. She locked the door 
immediately, fearing lest any should enter 
and discover her embarrassment. She lit a 
candle, took a broom, and swept every nook 
and corner of the house, fearful all the while 
lest someone might knock for entrance. At 
last, to her delight, she found the piece. She 
put it back in its place; then opened the door 
and conveyed her joy to the neighbors. Her 
honor had been restored. 

So, Jesus intimates, the honor of our heavenly 


122 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


Father is affected by our sins. We are His handi- 
work. Whatever the reason of our sinning, when 
we do sin, we cast reflection on our Maker. But 
when we return to Him, then gladness fills His 
heart and shines from His blessed face, so that 
those about Him grow aware of His fatherly joy. 
With this wonderful story agrees the song in 
Ephrata’s fields, ‘‘ Glory to God in the highest.” 
And with this teaching agrees the confession of 
David, “‘ Against Thee only have I sinned.” The 
greatest evil of sin is that it puts our Maker ina 
false position. 

5. Sin leads to judgment. Our first judgment 
on sin is our own sense of guilt. We cannot get 
away from ourselves; but are our own closest 
companions. Self-condemnation is a foretaste of 
eternal punishment. But if our hearts condemn 
us, God is greater than our hearts, Who knoweth 
all things. Our great Creator endowed us with 
free will. The theory of mechanism, so popularly 
pleaded in our courts to condone crime, is as god- 
less as crime itself. We sin from choice. Blame 
rests on us for our sinning. Excuses are vain. 
We are accountable to self, to neighbor, and to 
God for every sin. There is no escape from the 
great tribunal, except by way of repentance and 
of Christ. 

Deliverance from sin is by the way of our di- 
vine Redeemer, who became sin for us. His won- 


MAN’S ORIGIN AND NATURE — 123 


derful life and death for our salvation will form 
the subject of our next study. 


SUGGESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


1. Open discussion on ways of making the pres- 
ence of Jesus in the community congenial. This will 
lead readily to the day’s lesson. 

2. Ask one of the members to picture verbally the 
literal interpretation of the “ Genesis ” creation story. 
Compare with this the prayer of Psalm 139, and let 
someone, who favors the theistic theory of evolution, 
tell that side of it. 

3. Bring out the similarity between the human 
body and soul on the one hand, and the physical uni- 
verse and God on the other hand. Be very careful in 
the drawing of inferences. 

4. Compare degrees of intelligence among animals; 
between different men; between animal and man. 

5. Discuss the problem of obligation and ability as 
it now appears in daily life. 

6. Center on the Temptation of Jesus; compare it 
with The Lord’s Prayer, and with the Shepherd 
Psalm, relative to sin and safety. 

7. Assign for next period one paper on, Individual 
need of salvation; another on, Social need of salva- 
tion; a third on, National need of salvation. 

8. Request careful review of preceding lessons. 


For Further Research 


Christ in the Modern World, Ch. IT, D. S. Cairns. 

Christian Doctrine, Ch. VIII, R. W. Dale. 

The Diviner Immanence, Ch. XIII, Francis J. Mc- 
Connell. 

What Shall I Believe?, Ch. III, A. H. Strong. 

Reading day by day: Gen. 1:26-31; Gen. 2; Gen. 
Seeds ese u TSO Slo ick, aoS ulna to skank 
Corn 25-27) 11 Corel 239-10. 


Vill 
SALVATION 


T the close of the genealogy of Jesus in 
A the third chapter of Luke’s Gospel, we 

read—‘ Adam, the son of God.” This 
confirms in a striking manner the more intimate 
relation between man and his Maker, surpassing 
by infinite measures the relation of the rest of 
creation to God. It was the gracious plan of the 
heavenly Father that all human beings should be 
children of His household. The break that took 
place by man’s disobedience was due to a denial 
on man’s part of that divine fatherhood and of his 
own kinship to God. Sin involved a surrendering 
of human childhood. That this terrible break is 
not lost sight of by Jesus Himself, comes out most 
touchingly in the parable of the Prodigal Son. 
Falling down before his father in penitence, the 
son sobbed out, ‘‘ Father, I have sinned against 
heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy 
to be called thy son.” He had intended to say 
more; but the father did not let him. That con- 
fession was sufficient to prove a right state of 
heart. The son sensed the fact that by his sins 


the relations of father and child had been broken. 
124 


SALVATION 125 


Then the father was ready to say, “‘ Bring forth 
the best robe and put it on him,” thus declaring 
his son restored into the family. But thousands 
and ten thousands to this day, who have sinned 
and sinned again, without repentance, continue 
to call themselves the children of the heavenly 
Father. 


The Saving Act of Christ 


Salvation consists of the restoring to man of the 
childlike relationship with the heavenly Father; 
it is a reconciliation. The Son of God became . 
man in order that man might again be a child of 
God. The name that was given Christ by Isaiah 
(Ch. 9:7), more than eight hundred years before 
the Saviour’s birth, ‘The everlasting Father,” 
may sound a bit strange to us; but it was not 
meaningless. Jesus Christ started a new human 
race (I Cor. 15:45, 47), grafted into Himself 
(Rom. 11:16-24) and thus composing the ever- 
growing family of God. We are rightly called 
Christians, because we are Christ’s. In Him we 
are the children of God. (Jn. 3:1, 2.) 


How Did Christ Save? 


Inasmuch as divine childhood is contingent 
upon faith in Christ, we naturally ask how it be- 
came again possible after the break by sin. Let 
us look for the answer in the life as well as in the 
death of our Redeemer. 


126 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


The life of Christ was lived in absolute obedi- 
ence to the will of God. Never for one moment 
did the man Jesus deviate one iota from the 
Father’s plan for the world’s salvation; not even 
when obedience involved the agonies of Geth- 
semane and of the cross. Jesus Christ fulfilled the 
whole law. He did this representatively for the 
human race. In Him, our life grafted into His 
life, and thus we living with Him the new life 
in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1), are we with Him and 
through Him fulfilling the Father’s will. In Him 
we are without sin (Jn. 3:6). 

But the perfect life of Jesus Christ was by itself 
not sufficient. It would have served as an example 
for us to follow; but we could not have followed 
all the way; Christ would have stood before us 
as an ideal that could never be reached. To make 
possible this ingrafting of our lives into His, it was 
needful that our Lord should enter the portals of 
death. 

This fearful experience the Son of man had not 
deserved. Not on account of any wrong that He 
had ever committed, or any right that He had ever 
failed to do, did Jesus die upon the cross. There 
was no shadow or trace of sin in Him (Heb. 4:15; 
Jn. 8:46.) Jesus died on Calvary for your sake 
and mine. He gave His life, as He had lived His 
life, in a representative way. When Jesus suffered 
the punishment of human guilt, the whole race of 
men, past, present and yet to be, was represented 


SALVATION 127 


by the Son of man. ‘“ The chastisement of our 
peace was upon him and with BS stripes we are 
healed ” (Isa. 53:5). 

This wonderful fact has been made a cause of 
abuse by some, whose hearts are not right with 
God. They pretend that since the burden of our 
sins was laid upon the Lamb of God anyway, they 
need not care about things they say and do. If 
Jesus is their substitute, their vicarious sacrifice, 
they are all right. Their sins have already been 
washed away before they ever commit them; they 
are pure before God, however unclean their lives. 
To such monstrous reasoning may sinful minds 
descend. 

In many instances this doctrine has appeared in 
somewhat different form. The flagrant practices 
of Tetzel, who sold indulgences to gullible folks, 
that would free them from sins they were still 
planning to commit, aroused the heart of Martin 
Luther until he could no longer keep silent. 
Through all ages people have been willing to 
sacrifice substitutes for themselves in form of ani- 
mals or money, or even other human beings. The 
ancient Hebrew, taught so clearly in his laws to 
bring an animal as an offering for his sins, almost 
incessantly forgot that the offering must be pre- 
sented as his representative; not as a substitute 
to which his sins could be transferred. The He- 
brew worshiper was originally taught that he was 
personally guilty, and that the bringing of an ani- 


128 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


mal was a living confession of guilt on his part. 
The life blood, which the priest caused to flow out 
upon the altar, signified the sinner’s life, which 
belongs to God. It was this true confession of the 
repentant heart which God accepted; for, of 
course, the blood of bulls and goats could not 
eliminate sin (Heb, 9:12). ‘“ Here is my life, O 
God,”\ the worshiper should have said either 
audibly or in his heart, “‘ which I pledge to Thee 
anew, and this animal serves as the token of my 
pledge.” 

Instead of this humble presentation, many a 
Hebrew gave his animal with pride of heart, as 
if it should satisfy the Lord; then held his own 
life back from service and humble worship. It 
was the falsest form of worship ever invented. 
God said (Isa. 1:11), “To what purpose is the 
multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? I am full 
of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed 
beasts.” And this is just as false a teaching re- 
garding the vicarious sacrifice of Christ, if that 
sublime sacrifice is prostituted into a salve for the 
conscience to indulge in sin. Is it any wonder 
Robert Burns looked on at such hypocritical 
doings till the wild cry rose from his heart: 


“God knows I’m no the thing I should be; 
Nor am I e’en the thing I could be; 
But twenty times I rather would be 
An atheist clean, 
Than under Gospel colours hid be 
Just for a screen.” 


SALVATION 129 


It is the plan of God that we shall follow Christ 
all the way, taking up our cross after Him (Matt. 
16:24). As living sacrifices, not to earn salvation, 
but to express our gratitude for His great mercy 
(Rom. 12:1), we must climb Golgotha with Him 
that we may also rise with Him in newness of 
ieee Colo 1.) 


Repentance 


There is no salvation offered anywhere in the 
Gospels without the summons to repentance. In 
the Old Testament the prophets insisted on this 
condition; in the New Testament John the Baptist 
preached it faithfully, and Jesus took up the same 
slogan, “‘ Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is 
at hand.” There must be sorrow for sin, shall 
forgiveness be granted, and nothing in earth or 
heaven, not even Christ Himself can take the place 
of that personal regret. There is no rigid rule by 
which the length or the depth of repentance may 
be measured. But that it must be felt within the 
heart, of this there can be no reasonable doubt. 
For a loving Father has been deeply grieved by 
our sins. As soon, therefore, as there is any re- 
sponse in our hearts to the loving ways of our 
Father, it becomes a grief to us that we have been 
the cause of His displeasure. Our repentance is 
in itself the first token of reestablished childhood.. 
Lack of repentance is equally a token of con- 
tinued estrangement from God. 


130 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


Sorrow for sin brings in its wake a purpose to 
new obedience. Disloyalty is changed to loyalty. 
There comes also a consciousness of sins forgiven 
that brings gladness to the heart. The joy of God 
over one sinner that repents, finds reflection in the 
joyousness of that young Christian. 


Faith in Christ 

The need of faith is universally recognized; but 
it does not always mean faith in Christ. It may 
mean faith in self. New Thought, Christian 
Science, the Coué school, with its, “ Every day in 
every way I am growing better and better ”’ slo- 
gan, teaches faith in self. Each person, then, 
must lay hold on the forces inherent in the uni- 
verse and bring them into his own service. What- 
ever divinity exists in this world, even if it be God 
Himself, these teachers would not hesitate to em- 
ploy for their own uses. It is this employment of 
universal energy that lends value to man, accord- 
ing to these teachers. 


“From the tips of his toes to the point of his chin 
A man’s worth four dollars a day, 
Whether driving a street-car or digging a well, 
Or out on the farm making hay. 
But from the chin up the limit is off, 
For providing the mind ts controlled, 
The man with the mind is the king of mankind 
And he rules with a scepter of gold.” 


The Christian’s faith is not centered in himself, 
but in Christ. He is weak but Christ is mighty. 


SALVATION 131 


He knows that in his own veins there flows much 
yellow blood. He prays, ‘“ Lead us not into temp- 
tation.” He finds within himself tendencies crop- 
ping out that would wean him away from God. 
He is not at all pleased with himself. In fact, his 
attitude is exactly what the people of the world 
vociferously tell him it ought not to be; he lacks 
self-confidence. 

Paradoxical as it may appear, the Christian is 
nevertheless no weakling. He is an ardent fighter 
against sin within himself and of evil in his en- 
vironment. He is a loyal protector of the inno- 
cent; an encourager of honest effort; a leader in 
benevolences; an explorer into dark and needy 
regions to bring light there; a builder of the king- 
dom of God. The Christian is fearless; he will 
break rather than bow to the forces of evil. He 
is a giant in moral and spiritual enterprises. He 
has marked initiative. He is feared by the powers 
of darkness. All this in the face of his self- 
confessed weakness; for his favorite saying is, 
‘““When I am weak, then am I strong.”’ What is 
his secret? 

The Christian’s only secret is his faith in Jesus 
Christ. The power of the Son of God flows into 
the child of God. Without Him Whom he be- 
lieves, he can do nothing; but he can do all things 
through Christ, which strengthens him. He be- 
lieves that Christ made good for him all the way, 
fulfilling all righteousness. He believes that 


132 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


Christ in His terrible struggles against the powers 
of evil came off victorious, and that he, too, will 
by the help of Christ win ultimate victory. He 
is persuaded that nothing is too good for a child 
of God, and nothing too hard. He believes that 
he is an heir with Christ of the kingdom which 
shall have no end. He believes that whether in 
the body or out of the body he is the Lord’s. And 
on this sure faith he acts. He not only trusts in 
Christ; he works for Christ; he works with Christ. 
He is hid with Christ in God; Christ is his all and 
in all. Whether he lives or dies does not make a 
great difference; for in any event he is the Lord’s. 
This dependence not on self, but on the Almighty 
Christ, is the secret of his strength and the motive 
of his activities. 


Justification 

This faith in Christ by which the Christian is 
completely identified with his Saviour, is his justifi- 
cation. No matter what sins he has committed, 
and if he were the blackest criminal on earth, if 
he has with sorrow for his sins turned to Jesus 
Christ, and trusting in his Redeemer has forsaken 
his sin, then his sins have been forgiven him. In 
the sight of God he is now justified and stands 
with a better record than the most decent citizen 
of our commonwealth, who trusts in his own right- 
eousness and therefore feels no need of Christ. 
Hand in hand with the Christ, Who once for all 


SALVATION 133 


suffered on his behalf, this erstwhile sinner can 
stand at the bar of divine justice with sublime 
confidence. 

It goes without saying that if his love for Christ 
is strong enough, so that he rests upon Him alone 
for salvation, his fear of sinning again will be 
strong, too, and he will henceforth regard evil 
tendencies within him, and sinful allurements with- 
out him as his most terrible enemies. The justi- 
fied sinner prays daily, ‘‘ Lead us not into tempta- 
tion: but deliver us from evil.” He will not play 
with fire; nor does he dare tempt God. He rather 
fights to the bitter end those yellow streaks within 
him and will not allow them to control him again. 
Instead, he “ keeps under his body.” With all the 
strength available to him in Christ Jesus, as he is 
able to retain hold on that inflowing power, he 
tries to be actually and personally the just man 
he is by the representative service of Christ. 
Eventually, therefore, his justification is no longer 
purely a matter of standing behind Christ; but a 
living and working as a member of Christ’s per- 
sonality. ‘‘ There is, therefore, now no condemna- 
tion to them which are in Christ Jesus; who walk 
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit’? (Rom. 
8:1). With this divine interpretation of our rela- 
tionship with Christ, all the Scriptures agree. 

This wonderful teaching should serve to set 
straight two popular misconceptions. 

a. Many good people have been taught that 


134 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


Jesus lived so perfectly, there were enough good 
works performed by Him to make up for the 
shortcomings of all the rest. These superabun- 
dant graces, they think, were put to our account 
and may under certain conditions be appropriated 
by us. Usually, the Church is supposed to be a 
depository of these graces and through the chan- 
nels of the Church they may be secured for our 
benefit. This error led to the indulgences which 
we mentioned above, which men could purchase 
to free them from sin. The same error still holds 
members of the Roman Church under bondage to 
the priesthood, which claims the power of dispens- 
ing the abundant graces of Christ. 

With this teaching for a background, it was no 
far step to the doctrine that pious saints, also, 
have laid up a superabundance of good works from 
which storehouse the less pious may draw,—for 
a consideration. But Jesus teaches that even if 
we had done everything required, we would still 
lack a superabundance of good works (Lk. 17:10). 

b. Many people of Christian training are labor- 
ing under the impression that heaven can be 
earned by our good works; that salvation is 
through character. This teaching does not take 
into account the great debts incurred at some time 
or another during a lifetime; nor does it consider 
the need of new life in Christ Jesus. The only 
way according to the Gospel is Christ. There is 
no other. (Jn. 14:6; Acts 4:12.) 


SALVATION 135 


Sanctification 


As there is physical growth in every normal 
childhood, so there is spiritual growth on the part 
of the children of God; presuming, they, too, are 
normal. This process of growth is not frequently 
mentioned, because to our shame most of us have 
to confess that our growth is anything but rapid; 
but the classic name for it is sanctification. ‘This 
literally means, growing more holy. So far as it 
can be made a subject of our studies there may be 
discerned seven lines of increase. 

1. An increase in the knowledge of God and of 
the things that concern the Kingdom. A prayer- 
ful study of the Bible, of the story of the Chris- 
tian Church, including Missions, of the needs of 
the local church, of the needs of community and 
nation and on into the whole world; the reading 
of church papers and of helpful books,—in short 
a familiarizing with vital facts relative to God’s 
gracious activities in the world, helps supremely 
to bring about this increase in knowledge. 

2. An increase of mastery over sin. After we 
have been renewed in Christ we find within us still 
the same old tendencies that ruled us in previous 
days. The very nerve-tracks in our bodies were 
effected by repeated acts of sin; whether in 
thought or in deed. In that way evil habits were 
first formed. Paul calls these sinful inclinations, 
“The old man.” But as the Christian walks with 
his Lord and learns to put into action the revealed 


136 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


will of God, the power of these evil tendencies de- 
creases, and the power to fulfill the mind of God 
increases. ‘The old man dies and the new man 
grows. 

3. An increase of fellowship with Christ in the 
Holy Spirit. The little child in the home grows 
gradually better acquainted with his father and 
learns to confide in him ever more readily, unless 
outside influences interfere. Between the child of 
God and his Father the same experience may be 
witnessed. A Christian learns to talk things over 
with God, to look to Him for advice, to listen for 
divine encouragement. His view-point gradually 
becomes that of heaven instead of the earth. He 
learns to judge the affairs of life as they are re- 
lated to God. 

4. An increase of service in the kingdom of 
God. Such increased service involves, 

a. A better knowledge of self, with a greater 
appreciation of others. 

b. A greater willingness to do the incon- 
spicuous things, for which small thanks are 
rendered and little honor is awarded. 

c. A gain of skill in the understanding and 
teaching of the Word of God for the comfort- 
ing of those in distress, the enlightening of 
those who search for truth, the convicting of 
those who walk in error, the planning for 
kingdom extension, and the congenial work- 
ing together with others. 


SALVATION 137 


5. An increase of longing for true holiness. The 
undeceived Christian does not pronounce himself 
holy, except representatively in Christ. Paul 
points himself out as “the chief of sinners.” He 
witnesses to his own progress in holiness, ‘‘ Not 
as though I had already attained, either were al- 
ready perfect, . . . I press on toward the goal 
for the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus.” 
(Phil. 3:12, 14.) 

6. An increase of gratitude for divine grace and 
help. This steady increase leads on to the state in 
glory where praise and thanksgiving shall form the 
keynotes of worship and service. 

7. An increase in likeness with Christ. As the 
final of God’s creation man was made in the like- 
ness of God. This likeness has been greatly 
marred by sin; but becomes renewed when the 
heart definitely turns Godward. Through all the 
eternities the likeness of God’s children to the Son 
of God will continue to increase. But inasmuch as 
Christ is infinite, complete equality can never be 
reached. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 

1. Pray the Lord’s Prayer, one person leading 
audibly, the others follow silently. Start a quiet 
discussion regarding those who may truly pray that 
prayer. There are various opinions on this; so that 
the leader should not be content with the opinions of 
one or two. 

2. Consider the representative character of Jesus 


Christ, and compare with this subversions of the sub- 
stitution theory 


1388 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


3. Relate signs of repentance as personally experi- 
enced and as witnessed in others. Discuss certain 
modern Revival Meetings at which repentance seems 
to be uncalled for. 

4. Make clear to every one the meaning of faith in 
Christ. Have expressions from many on the subject. 
Call up the slogan of the Reformation, “ The just 
shall live by faith,” and apply to this lesson. 

5. Have the members name requisites of soul- 
growth, and suggestions of means for such growth. 
Consider hindrances. 

6. Let the papers be read that were assigned for 
this period and enter on full discussion as time per- 
mits. 

7. Ask members of the class to think, while pre- 
paring for the next period, what are the outstanding 
reasons for the existence of their particular denomi- 
nation. 

8. Review as thoroughly as seems feasible all pre- 
vious work. 


For Further Research 

The Fact of Christ, Ch. V, P. Carnegie Simpson. 

What Shall I Believe?, Ch. VI, A. H. Strong. 

The Christ We Forget, Ch. XX XV-XLI, Whitwell 
Wilson. 

Popular Lectures on Popular. Themes, A. A. 
Hodge. 

Reading day by day: Ezek. 18:1-24; Hos. 14; 
Tsay (lie -18%¢> Heb. 10s 1-10> ifn 13) 14-1 ee oon 
G21-9.5 (Pes: 


TX 
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 


childhood of God has been restored, that the 

noblest human qualities shall find fullest ex- 
pression. This natural expectation is realized in 
the matter of every Christian virtue, and par- 
ticularly in the expression of the social tendencies. 
“They that loved the Lord spake often one to 
another.” There have always been blessed ex- 
periences of which the children of God want to 
talk to each other. There have been hopes and 
fears which they desire to share. There are plans 
they must work out jointly, shall success be gained. 
Similar interests unite them. God is their one cen- 
ter of worship; their one Father. How perfectly 
natural that through the ages and to this day the 
children of God have gathered for worship! 

It looks as if as early as the days of Enos (Gen. 
4:26), previous to the flood, believers came to- 
gether in groups for prayer. We know that Abra- 
ham taught his household the worship and service 
of God (Gen. 18:19). Under the leadership of 
Moses more than a million people acknowledged 
Jehovah as their Lord; so that Stephen (Acts 


7:38) could speak of “‘ The Church in the wilder- 
139 


ie may naturally be expected, when spiritual 


140 * THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


ness.” Too frequently the Hebrews wandered 
away from God, and never did the whole nation 
without exception worship the Lord in spirit and 
in truth; but through all backslidings ‘a rem- 
nant” always remained faithful. When Elijah 
was sorely vexed, surmising that he alone had re- 
mained loyal to Jehovah, he learned of seven thou- 
sand others, who never did bow the knee to Baal. 
This remarkable fact has remained true in all cen- 
turies, even during the darkest days of the Dark 
Ages. In some form the Church has existed from 
the beginning and it will continue to the end. 


Of Whom is the Church Composed? 


Among the Hebrews one might have spoken of 
the people of God with one of two meanings. He 
might have meant the whole nation that called 
themselves after Abraham; or he might have 
meant those who were in every way loyal to Je- 
hovah. Among those who came to tabernacle or | 
temple for worship, he might still have found oc- 
casion to think of two great groups. One group 
came to have a sort of vacation; when they might 
enjoy uninterrupted converse with friends and 
relatives, be free from manual labor, feast on 
music and processions, and be away from the hum- 
drum of customary existence. There was also that 
other group whose heart yearned for the courts of 
the Lord; whose delight it was to worship the Lord 
in the beauty of holiness; who cared for no better 


THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 141 


meat and drink than the teachings of Israel’s sages. 
Not in every instance would it have been possible, 
however, to draw the line between these two 
groups; for many came with mixed motives. Only 
He Who knows the innermost thoughts of men 
could distinguish between the wheat and the chaff. 

It has been thus through the ages. When the 
word ‘“‘ Church ” is employed, it usually means an 
organization composed of officers and members, 
teachers and disciples who have agreed upon cer- 
tain articles of common faith, have pledged obedi- 
ence to certain rules, and are united for the work- 
ing out of a certain program. But in the minds 
of those who like to look a bit further, this organ- 
ization will not answer. They may be thinking of 
a purely spiritual group, who are united by no or- 
ganization of any kind, but who have accepted 
Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. They may 
in their thoughts even group those, who no longer 
live on earth, but have died in the Lord, to this 
great body, and call it, “‘ The Invisible Church,” 
in distinction from ‘‘ The Visible Church.” <A few 
people have fallen into the habit of calling the 
building in which worshipers meet “ The Church.” 
For this designation there is no excuse except 
wrong habits. It is quite proper, however, to give 
the name “ church ” to a single congregation. On 
the other hand, it is presumptuous to apply the 
name ‘“‘ The Church ” to any one of the many de- 
nominations of which the visible church of Christ 


142 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


is composed. To clarify our minds and to agree 
on our vocabulary we may have these definitions. 

1. The great company of those who believe in 
Christ as their Saviour, no matter in what country 
or of what denomination, may be called “ The 
Church.” When a distinction is made between 
those on earth and those in heaven, the former are 
called “The Church Miuilitant,’” and the latter 
“The Church Triumphant.” 

2. Those of one creed and one form of govern- 
ment under one official name, usually known as 
one denomination, may be called “ Church.” In 
this way we think of the Presbyterian Church, the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and every other de- 
nomination. 

3. A single group of worshipers, belonging to 
a denomination, but located in one particular 
vicinity, and having vital affiliations with the 
larger body, may be called a ‘“ Church.” In this 
way there may be “The First Congregational 
Church,” or “The Bethany Baptist Church,” or 
any one local church. The person who belongs to 
one of these local churches belongs equally to the 
great denomination or Church of which his local 
church forms part. 

4. The complete group of denominations and 
sects that confess Jesus Christ in all the world, 
each forming their own organization, but all stand- 
ing for the same great principles of redemption in 
Christ, evangelism for Christ, and instruction in 


THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 143 


the love and service of Christ, may be called “‘ The 
Church.” This accumulation or aggregation of 
Churches, though it doubtless contains individuals 
who do not from the heart worship the Lord, nor 
truly serve Him, is the greatest force of God’s 
kingdom, and of this body we should think in this 
chapter. 


The Purpose of the Church 


The reason why the children of God gather in 
worship is not merely that they may give expres- 
sion in a spiritual way to their social tendencies; 
but much more that they may jointly work out 
God’s program on the earth. The purpose of God 
in establishing and sustaining His Church may 
find partial expression in, 

1. The formation of a family of God’s children 
that shall in a measure typify the family of God 
in heaven. They are brothers and sisters together, 
united by bonds that are stronger than death, and 
truer than blood. The Eldest Son in this house- 
hold is Jesus Christ. 

2. As they worship the Lord in unison they ex- 
perience a strength which is not felt so vividly 
when one bows the knee to the Father in solitude. 
‘“‘ Where two or three are gathered in my name, 
there am I in the midst of them,” said Jesus. 
These common followers of Jesus are able also 
through such fellowship to admonish and encour- 
age one another. 


144 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


3. Disciples, as their name implies, are learners. 
They need instruction. Jesus first preached; then 
taught. Paul carried out this same program of 
Jesus. In the hour of worship the children of God 
may mutually instruct each other. Supremely, 
they are in their joint sessions to be instructed of 
God. ; 

4. Equalization of worshipers. Before our 
heavenly Father there is no distinction of rank; 
we are without exception “ poor and needy ”’; so 
that divine grace must be applied to every one of 
us. From whatever condition of life we come to 
church, we are children of the same household; 
we are brothers and sisters. The church is demo- 
cratic. ‘The custom, therefore, of seatings within 
the church building that set apart the wealthy 
from the poor, is wholly contrary to the genius of 
church life. This sense of equality before God 
should be most truly felt at the time of Com- 
munion Service, when the emblems of divine love 
are visible before all worshipers. 

5. There is a purpose in our joint worship that 
goes beyond the worshipers themselves. Never 
must the children of God forget that there are 
others, who have not yet come back to the Father. 
Every true church is organized for the purpose of 
extension. This extension is made possible in two 
ways during the process of joint worship: 

a. Outsiders, to whom the worship of God 
is not an ingrained habit of life, should be 


THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 145 


repeatedly invited to witness the season of 
worship, so that they may feel a discontent 
in their own hearts, which may drive them to 
the throne of grace. If the place of worship 
is such that attendance of outsiders is un- 
likely, the church must go out of its building 
at suitable times and conduct its services in 
the open, so that there may yet be witnesses 
whose hearts can be touched. 

b. Worshipers should definitely plan to 
bring the Gospel to every place where it has 
not reached. The Church is essentially mis- 
sionary; it is built on the extension plan. 
The knowledge, the worship, and the service 
of Christ is to spread till His dominion shall 
stretch ‘‘ from sea to sea and from the rivers 
to the ends of the earth.” 


Should a Christian Belong to a Church? 

The things we have mentioned in the previous 
paragraphs cannot be done so well singly; they 
require the united efforts of God’s children; either 
as a local group or as a national body. Christians 
who keep themselves aloof from the group and its 
God-given tasks are liable to serious errors. 

1. They fail to enrich others through the testi- 
mony of their own experience, and the help they 
may render in sorrow, perplexity and joy. On the 
part of the church this means that opportunity 
should be afforded her humblest members to exert 
these Christian graces. 


146 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


2. They fail to gather into their own lives the 
blessings that flow out from the lives of other 
Christians, and for the outflowing of which those 
others would be none the poorer. 

3. Because of their lack of contact with the 
group, they are greatly tempted to misjudge the 
members of that group. Themselves, in their lone 
position, they may estimate at too low or at too 
high a rate, but probably, ‘‘ More highly than they 
ought to think.” 

4. They fail to put their shoulders to the wheel 
with others for progressive kingdom work; so that 
God’s plans are not carried out so fully for their 
failure. Not seldom it is found that people hold 
back from the church because it would require 
their financial aid; they have not learned to think 
of God as the Owner of all. Again, there are those 
who shrink from giving time and energy to the 
work of a local church. They see a world perish- 
ing for want of redemptive agencies; but lack the 
love that is needed to be one of those agencies. 

5. They are not only themselves “ slackers,” 
but by their example they encourage others to 
play the slacker. Often these are Bible-reading 
Christians against whose morals nothing is to be 
said. But the better people they personally are, 
the more hurtful will be their example for influ- 
encing others against the church. 

6. They are false to the program of Jesus, Who 
gathered about Him one band of twelve, another 


THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 147 


of seventy, and yet a larger group of a hundred 
and fifty, whom He trained in joint service. Our 
Lord addressed them in the plural and taught 
them The Lord’s Prayer in plural form. He gave 
His great Commission to them jointly; for only 
with a united front are they able to carry out His 
mandates. According to the Master’s instructions 
His followers went everywhere organizing churches, 
even if the group were so small that they could 
meet in a home (Rom. 16:5; Philemon 2.) 


Why Denominations? 


It happens occasionally that someone who has 
been recently converted, or has gradually dropped 
out from the gatherings of worshipers, looks for 
excuses not to unite with a church. Among their 
pet arguments is the fact of numerous denomina- 
tions and sects. It does not usually occur to them 
that herein lies a chief reason for uniting with 
some church; because so great a number offers so 
many choices and will suit fastidious tastes. But 
the fact of many churches has made others won- 
der at so much division where there should be 
unity. Let us consider the reasons: 

1. Differences of nationality and ancestry. One 
naturally expects Scandinavians and Germans to 
be of the Lutheran faith; Dutch, Ost-Frisians, 
Huguenots, and Protestant Czecho-Slovaks to be 
members in Reformed Churches. Regarding the 
Scotch and Scotch-Irish we feel confident to find 


148 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


them Presbyterian. ~Those of English stock are 
likely to be Episcopalian; while those masses of 
Southern Europe, among whom the Inquisition did 
its thorough, hellish work in Reformation days, 
are now obedient children of the Church of Rome. 
These groups, even after their arrival in America, 
were born into their respective denominations. 

2. Differences of temperament. The man who 
relishes to his heart’s content a meeting of Salva- 
tion Army lads and lassies may not feel at home 
during a morning service in a Presbyterian church. 
The Yorkshire miner, although of English stock, 
cannot keenly enjoy an Episcopal service. The 
songs, the genuflections, even the trend of doctrine 
in one denomination, do not persuasively appeal to 
the type of worshipers that meets in a different 
group. 

3. Differences of task. Each great denomina- 
tion in carrying on the comprehensive program of 
Christ is best able to make its impress along cer- 
tain lines. Warm-hearted, enthusiastic progress 
has marked the path of Methodists and Disciples; 
educational evangelism has been the means of 
Congregationalists and Presbyterians. Charity, 
slum work, social service;—these, too, have re- 
ceived special emphasis on the part of single de- 
nominations or sects. Like so many divisions of 
cavalry, infantry, artillery, and sappers, so the 
greater and smaller bodies of Evangelical churches 


THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 149 


have marched in essential unison with the one pur- 
pose of world victory for Christ. 

It is the confession of an imperfect church that 
bickerings have broken out. Each church contains 
many human members. There has been selfish 
fear lest one church might gain advantage over an- 
other. There have been puerile attempts “to be 
first.” Envy has worked havoc. Intolerance still 
shows its ugly face and works its brutal:'jaw. But, 
thanks be to God, these instances are becoming 
ever more rare. The leaders of our churches have 
seen the hurt of it and have set their faces against 
these evils. In the Foreign Field whole sections 
of country are assigned to single denominations 
to labor there without competition. Joint schools 
are being established under the management of 
several denominations. Gradually, the same spirit 
is gaining ground in the homeland. Sectarianism 
is doomed. But the many different groups of wor- 
shipers will continue to afford rich choices to the 
Christian who earnestly desires to carry out the 
plan of Christ on earth, as He gave His world- 
program to the Church. 


Divine Grace Through Church Channels 


Jesus Christ founded the Christian Church in 
His own blood. Is it any wonder He deeply loves 
the Church? God’s children are as dear to Him 
as the apple of His eye; they are graven in the 
palm of His hand. In the Old Testament the 


150 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


Church was called the wife, to whom Jehovah was 
espoused. In the New Testament Jesus calls the 
Church, His Bride, with Himself as the Bride- 
groom. Through the channels of this Church 
much of His grace is manifested. 

In well-known instances priestcraft has taken 
advantage of this teaching and has prostituted the 
noble purpose of these gracious channels for its 
own benefit. The Church of Rome declares that 
none can be saved except through her agencies. 
Whoever fails to identify himself with that church, 
to partake of its sacraments, to attend its services, 
and to contribute to its treasuries, is bound for 
eternal perdition. But those, who faithfully ob- 
serve the ceremonies of that church and carry out 
its mandates to the letter, are sure of heaven. 
They may live rather loose lives and still play safe, 
if attendance at mass, confession to the priest, and 
contribution to the church are regularly observed. 
According to Rome’s teachings, the purpose of 
their hierarchy is to take care of the spiritual wel- 
fare of their adherents. This service on the part 
of the church does not cease at death, but con- 
tinues with undiminished vigor, though somewhat 
in proportion to the liberality of contributions. 

To this vicious doctrine the Protestant Refor- 
mation was a protest, and against its falseness 
every well-trained Protestant still protests. We 
are convinced that neither the Church as such nor 
its ministry possesses power to save a single soul; 


THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 151 


but we do believe that through the Church there 
flow peculiar graces, because of divine favor upon 
and through God’s children. The channels of 
these graces are: 

1. Christian fellowship and service. Sacred 
songs; earnest prayer; Scripture reading; medita- 
tion on the Word and its application to life as sug- 
gested in the sermon; joint-labors with far-away 
missionaries; the teaching of a class; the leading 
of a meeting; the telling to others of grace re- 
ceived; the working with others in humility and 
love, all these experiences do greatly enrich the 
Christian’s life. These same Christian graces are 
instrumental in bringing others into the Kingdom. 

2. The Sacraments that were instituted by 
Christ, namely, Baptism and The Lord’s Supper, 
are conveyers of rich, spiritual blessings to those 
who receive them in faith. Of these, Baptism, in 
whatever form, should be thought of as a token of 
personal attachment to Christ and of membership 
in that great Body, the Church, of which He is 
the Head. 

a. Wherever children receive baptism in 
infancy, there their parents express their faith 
that their children belong to God, and their 
readiness to dedicate these children wholly to 
the Lord. With this surrender, they make the 
solemn promise that they shall rear their chil- 
dren in the knowledge and love of God. 
Those who thus dedicate their children in 


152 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


baptism, but later on fail to train them in the 
Christian religion, or refuse to let them go 
into whole-life service, are committing a griev- 
ous sin; they are playing false to their sacred 
pledge. For whatever basis there may be for 
infant baptism, this is certain that without a 
certainty of parental training for God, there 
is no room for the Sacrament at that time. 

The rite of infant baptism is not one-sided. 
Parents have faith that God acknowledges 
their children as His children. He makes a 
covenant with parents to be their children’s 
God, as Jehovah covenanted with Abraham 
and all his descendants in the rite of circum- 
cision. When children reach the years of 
discernment, it is their sacred privilege to 
confess their heavenly Father before men. 

b. On the part of those who have reached 
the age in which they may decide for them- 
selves, baptism is the outward token of full 
allegiance to Jesus Christ. It may rightfully 
be administered to those only who surrender 
their lives wholly to the Lord, and accept 
Him alone for salvation. The water of the 
sacrament signifies the washing away of sin 
and the rising in newness of life as children 
of the Father. God pledges His gracious care 
over them for time and for eternity. 

In every instance, baptism should follow mem- 
bership in the Invisible Church and should be the 


THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 153 


visible avenue toward membership in the Visible 
Church. For none should consciously unite with 
a local church without complete surrender to 
Christ, faith in Him as the Redeemer from sin, 
and purpose to live with and for Him. Those who 
unite with the church under the impulse of any 
other motive are “thieves and robbers” (Jn. 
10:7-10). 

The only other Sacrament inaugurated by Christ 
is The Lord’s Supper. It serves to commemorate 
the sacrificial death of Christ for us. In partak- 
ing of The Lord’s Supper the bread signifies His 
broken body, and the wine represents His blood 
poured out for us. The sacred Supper, therefore, 
serves as an object lesson that reminds Christians 
of Christ through their senses of sight, touch, and 
taste. But it means more than that. Jesus, who 
said, “‘ I am with you, even to the end of the age,” 
is present at this Supper as the real Host. His 
brothers and sisters are at the table with Him. 
His loving presence imparts courage by the way. 
There is ample testimony to the real strength that 
has flown into the lives of Christians at this sacred 
occasion. There is also a looking forward at this 
table; for Jesus said, we should remember His 
death, till He come. | 


The Duties of Church Members 


As it is the duty of every human being to serve 
God loyally, because He gave us life, and all that 


154 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


we have; and as it is the duty of every Christian 
to unite with the church, because it is the body of 
Christ, so it is the duty of every church member 
to take his part in the building up of the kingdom 
of God; because this is the divinely ordained labor 
enjoined upon the body of Christ. There are in- 
numerable ways of.carrying on this divine pro- 
gram; but most of them may be suggested. 

1. A personal life of communion with God. 

2. Regular participation in worship with God’s. 
people; first at home, then in groups of a semi- 
public and of a public nature. 

3. Proportionate and liberal giving for local, 
national and world work of the kingdom. 

4. Service in the home church with all its de- 
partments. . 

5. Sharing with others in Christian enterprises. 
not immediately under the auspices of the church 
or denomination. 

6. Living daily in full agreement with the Chris- 
tian profession. 

7. Striving constantly toward perfection in 
Christian character and service; yet willing to 
follow God’s leading even where these duties can 
be carried out only in part. 


The Church Member’s True Position 
The Church is ‘‘ The body of Christ, and mem- 
bers in particular’ (I Cor. 12:27; Rom. 12:5), 
and Christ is the Head of this body (Eph. 4:15, 


THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 155 


16). The Church also is the Bride (Rev. 21:2; 
22:17), with Christ as the Bridegroom (Jn. 3:29; 
Matt. 9:5). Ever cleansing the Church from sin 
and sanctifying it to Himself, the Bridegroom is 
preparing ‘“‘A glorious church, not having spot, 
or wrinkle, or any such thing,” but “holy and 
without blemish ” (Eph. 5:25-27). All this seems 
too much to be said of us; but it is true of us while 
we abide in Christ. 

Again, we are called, “A royal priesthood ” 
(I Pt. 2:9), offering ourselves and showing forth 
His praise, as Christ once offered Himself for us 
(Rom. 12:1). 

Other names are given us. We are called ‘‘ The 
salt of the earth,” “‘ The light of the world,” just 
as Jesus claimed that title for Himself. ‘ Wit- 
nesses,” too, is a name applied to us in view of 
the work we are to do. All of which points to our 
Lord’s expectations of us, which we should never 
disappoint. In His high-priestly prayer, He said 
to our Father, “ As thou hast sent me into the 
world, even so have I sent them into the world ”’ 
(Jn. 17:1). : 

The Christian is or must be the Christ-man. 
The divine Redeemer represented us in His life 
and death, and still makes intercession for us in 
heaven. We represent Christ on the earth. 


SUGGESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 
1. Ask the class to picture Christ as the Pastor of 
their own local church. If He insisted on the accept- 


156 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


ance of His principles by all the members, how long 
would He be welcome there? Should He, then, ac- 
commodate Himself to that church, or should that 
church accommodate itself to Him? Let this be dis- 
cussed thoroughly, regardless of consequences. 

2. Compare the helpfulness of private and public 
devotions. 

3. Take up reasons given by non-churchmembers 
for not uniting with a church, and conduct a sympa- 
thetic discussion of them. 

4. Allow one representative from each denomina- 
tion present to suggest one function in which his 
church stands prominent. 

5. See that the value of the church is brought out 
in all its phases at home and abroad. 

6. The leader should be extremely careful in the 
discussion of Baptism, lest any be offended. Oppor- 
tunity may be given, however, to question the presen- 
tation of it in the lesson. The meaning of the Lord’s 
Supper should be more fully discussed. 

7. The work most liked in the church, and the 
work most dreaded, may be stated by members, with 
apparent reasons. 

8. Let ten members prepare for next lesson a brief 
written laudation of one Christian virtue, before read- 
ing of it in the lesson. 


For Further Research 


The True Church, Ch. I, XII, A. M. Dulles. 

The Church’ We/tHoreet? Ch. UX VILE x eee 
Whitwell Wilson. 

The Future of the Churches, Ch. I, III, V, Roger 
W. Babson. 

The Diviner Immanence, Ch. XII, Francis J. Mc- 
Connell. 

Reading day by day: Ps. 24; Mal. 3:16, 17; Acts 
15:1-11; Acts 2:41-47; Heb. 10:19-25; 1 Cor. 
16:1-14; Rev. 1: 4-20. 


x 
THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES 


HE Christian religion and the Christian 
life are one; they cannot be separated 
into compartments. For it is the genius 
of the Christian religion to touch and vitalize the 
entire human being; at the same time to demand 
complete loyalty. One who truly worships God, 
must serve Him as truly. So fully are worship 
and service identified that we habitually speak of 
joint worship as a ‘‘ Service.” It should become 
equally habitual to call the living out of God’s 
will ** Worship.” 

Throughout the ages attempts have been made 
to separate religion from life. Such attempts have 
invariably succeeded to the degree in which the 
religion concerned was lifeless. It is possible for 
an idolater to lay his gift on the altar, then to go 
out in pursuit of greedy or lustful purposes. It 
is not difficult, also, for the devotee of ceremonies 
and liturgies to participate in a form of worship 
which seems to identify him with Christianity; 
then to serve the devil with all his heart. But 
these performances are not expressive of the Chris- 
tian religion; they are only caricatures and imita- 


tions of it. Jesus gave voice to the feelings of 
157 


158 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


prophets and apostles in all ages, when He in- 
sisted, ‘‘ Not every one that saith unto me, ‘ Lord, 
Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but 
he that doeth the will of my Father which is in 
heaven ” (Matt. 7:21). 


The Knowledge of God Alive 


The knowledge of God and Christian life are 
one. Just about to enter the Garden of Gethsem- 
ane, Jesus lifted up His face toward heaven and 
prayed that matchless prayer of John Seventeen, 
in which He said, “‘ This is life eternal, that they 
might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus 
Christ whom Thou hast sent.”” That such a knowl- 
edge of God is not purely intellectual, should go 
without saying. It means intimate acquaintance 
and friendship with God. As Enoch walked with 
God and one day drew so near the heavenly places 
that he just stepped in; as Abraham sat with God 
under the oak-tree of Mamre; as John the Beloved 
rested on the bosom of Jesus; so are we to gain a 
knowledge of God that means life. Some great 
theologian may write wonderful theses on the at- 
tributes of God, and may talk glibly or profoundly 
of the relationships of Creator and creation: yet 
be far away from God in his heart. Or the ritual- 
ist may indulge in numerous prayers that once 
served to express a soul’s longings for the heavenly 
Father; yet himself fail of intimate friendship 
with God. 


THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES 159 


“"Tis not the broad phylactory 
Or stated prayers 
That make us saints ; 
We judge the tree 
By what tt bears. 
And when a man can live apart 
From faith on theologic trust, 
We know, the blood around his heart 
Is dry as dust.” 


The Knowledge of God’s Word Experimental 


A true knowledge of God’s Word and Christian 
life are one. For the Bible is expressive of 
human experience in the presence of God. Men 
lived with God in the center of their existence; 
then told of the meaning of such a life. The Bible 
is the Book of Life, because it was first lived, then 
written. It is not possible, therefore, to under- 
stand this Book without first living it. It is told 
of a Korean convert who tried to memorize the 
Beatitudes; but try as he might, he could not 
master the sentence, “‘ Blessed are the merciful; 
for they shall obtain mercy.” For days and weeks 
he labored on that one sentence; but in vain. One 
early morning he came to the Missionary, his face 
aglow. Without a stammer he recited the whole 
Beatitude. Then he explained how he had during 
all that time of struggle been unable to show 
mercy toward a neighbor who had grievously hurt 
him. At last he had found sufficient grace to show 
mercy. It enabled him to master the sentence. 
Unfortunately, this incident is not typical to the 


160 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


letter; for many are able to master passages of 
Scripture, which they fail to live. But it is typical 
of the spirit of knowing God’s Word. Only that 
part of the Bible which we put into practice do 
we really know. 


The Purpose of Christian Teaching is Christian 
Living 

The first purpose of God’s talking to men was 
to teach them the ways of health. Prevention is 
better than cure. Had man been willing to listen 
to the suggestions God gave him, the teaching of 
God would have become richer and deeper, and 
the Son of God would, we believe, have come on 
earth permanently to be man’s companion. The 
commandments of God are laws of health. “O 
that thou hadst hearkened unto my command- 
ments! then had thy peace been as a river, and 
thy righteousness as the waves of the sea” (Isa. 
48:12). For this reason God’s Word is called a 
lamp for our feet and a light on our pathway. In 
our activities we are to put into practice the coun- 
sel we have received of God. As Jesus put it, “ If 
ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do 
them” (Jn. 13:17). After Paul has for eleven 
long chapters in the Epistle to the Romans been 
discussing great theological subjects regarding 
which the churches to this day are not fully 
agreed, he wrote that wonderful twelfth chapter, 
on Christian conduct, and on which we are all 


THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES 161 


without exception or murmur agreed. That great 
man felt, as every true worshiper of God feels 
with him, that the teaching of God’s truth Is use- 
less if it does not result in a godly life. 


Leading Christian Virtues 

To different people different virtues make their 
strong appeal, according to experiences through 
which people have passed. To one who has re- 
peatedly suffered on account of spells of anger, 
either within himself or in others, amiability 
will appear as a cardinal virtue. To another, 
who has been troubled by small dealings in money 
matters, liberality may stand out supreme. To a 
third whom pessimism in some form assails, the 
virtue of courage, or faith looks big. Just as 
every person who looks at the colorings of a rain- 
bow sees different hues, because he stands looking 
from a different angle, so those who would enumer- 
ate and standardize various virtues, are sure to 
have views of their own. It is only in a suggestive 
way, therefore, that we present to the student’s 
consideration the ten outstanding Christian virtues 
of reverence, humility, trust, faith, hope, courage, 
liberality, sincerity, purity, and love. 


Reverence 
The first distinctive Christian virtue is rever- 
ence; which marks a man’s right attitude toward’ 
God. It is our Saviour’s first concern in the great: 
prayer He taught us, “‘ Hallowed be Thy Name.’” 


162 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


For without a hallowing of the name of God there 
can be no true prayer. Irreverence is a sin that 
immediately shuts away God from the soul. It 
cannot be put on from the outside; for it is an 
inner feeling of God’s majesty, and His goodness, 
with a desire that these divine attributes may in 
a measure come-to dwell also within us. 

Not seldom a contemplation of the works of 
God in nature leads to a reverent attitude,—the 
majestic sweep of a mountain-range, the boundless 
expanse of the ocean; the countless numbers of 
stars and planets. ‘“‘ The undevout astronomer is 
mad.” The delicate traceries of leaves and flow- 
ers, the crystal formations of snowflakes, the in- 
tricate arteries of animal life, produce similar 
feelings. Agassiz, the famouus biologist, would 
put the scale of a fish under his microscope, gaze 
at it intensely for many minutes, then look up to 
God with a prayer of praise on his lips for the 
marvel of its beauty. But the contemplation of 
God’s ways may go beyond the things we now see; 
they may go back into history, into our own lives, 
and into the lives and sayings of just men now per- 
fect. Supremely, the life and death of Christ pro- 
voke within us a sense of awe that induces worship. 

The reverent person will not lightly use the 
name of God in any of its forms, or even the 
names of natural powers through which the great- 
ness of our heavenly Father receives manifesta- 
tion, such as the thunder of the clouds; the place 


THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES 163 


of God’s peculiar abode, or heaven, and the place 
of condemnation, or hell. 

To insure reverence, body and soul must co- 
operate. An irreverent position suggests irrever- 
ent feelings. Eyes open, legs crossed, hands on 
the seat behind, gum in the mouth, any such modes 
of behavior militate against true reverence. 

Reverence toward God will naturally produce 
reverence toward God’s children, and in a measure 
toward all human beings, for they were made in 
the likeness of God. If reverence is required in 
the House of God that has been built with walls 
of stone or wood; much more is reverence required 
for this temple of the body, in which God is 
willing to dwell. 


Humility 

Hand-in-hand with reverence is the virtue of 
humility; which is first felt in the presence of God. 
He is the Giver of every good and perfect gift; 
through Him we are what we are and have what- 
ever we possess. In His presence, therefore, we 
have no reason to boast. The Christian is humble 
before God. 

But humility in the presence of God does not 
suffice for our Christian virtue; we need to be 
humble, also, in the presence of our fellow-men. 
Pride, which is the opposite of humility, vitiates 
and neutralizes every other virtue; while humility 
redeems an otherwise weak individual from the 


164 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


worst of his foibles. There is a sense in which the 
most serious troubles in a Christian community 
are due to the pride of certain of its members. 
They want preeminence. Except in a position of 
honor they will not serve. Having secured an 
honorable office, they refuse to step out without 
creating a scene.. Placed second by inevitable cir- 
cumstances they sulk like Achilles in his tent, or 
even leave the church. There is nothing in a local 
church that so wrinkles the pastor’s face and 
whitens his hairs as this unchristian lack of 
humility. 

Lack of humility was the bane of Jesus’ train- 
ing of the Twelve. While He was setting His face 
steadfastly toward Jerusalem, on that last journey, 
they were daily bickering among themselves who 
should be the greatest. He set a little child among 
them; but they failed to catch His meaning. Then 
on that final evening in the Upper Room, the Mas- 
ter took a towel and basin and washed the dis- 
ciples’ feet. Next to the cross it was His last and 
greatest lesson, to teach humility. When Paul 
finds this same virtue lacking among the church- 
members at Philippi, he points them again to Jesus, 
who, when enjoying equality with God, was willing 
to let that honor go, that humanity might be lifted 
(Phil. 2:5-11). : 

Humility is a source of happiness not only for 
others with whom we are to live and work; but 
for ourselves. The humble person does not feel 


THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES 165 


slighted when his name is not published from the 
housetops; but feels happy when working in an 
unnoticed corner. He never suffers that pain that 
comes from a sense of being stepped on. Deserv- 
ing the pleasure of God, he enjoys that pleasure. 
In return he affords both God and his fellow-men 
the gladness of his fellowship. 


Trust 


Intimately joined with humility is trust. This 
Christian virtue, too, relates us first with God. 
‘““In God we trust,” the motto on the American 
dollar, should be more frequently noted; for it ex- 
- presses a fundamental truth. Our nation depends 
upon God, whether as a nation we are aware of it 
or not. Unless ‘in God we trust,” we are build- 
ing on false foundations. The essence of religion 
is this sense of dependence on God. The men and 
women who have most keenly felt the meaning of 
God in their lives, have voiced our sentiments in 
such sayings as ‘“‘ God is our refuge and strength, 
a very present help in trouble”; ‘“ The eternal God 
is our refuge and underneath are the everlasting 
arms’; ‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart 
and lean not on thine own understanding ”’; ‘ It 
is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” 
Our great hymns are in the same strain, “A 
mighty fortress is our God”; “ Rock of Ages, 
cleft for me”; “ Jesus, Lover of my soul, Let me 
to Thy bosom fly.” In less poetic strain, but 


166 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


with no less feeling of dependence, Paul exclaims, 
‘“‘ T can do all things through Christ which strength- 
eneth me,” and again, ‘‘ When I am weak, then 
am I strong.” 

1. Christian trust is, as already noted, first in 
God. It is merged into reverence when, with John 
Ruskin, we confide in God on the smallest affairs 
of life. The trustful heart can see the hand of a 
heavenly Father in everything, and is glad that 
the Supreme Ruler is not only almighty, but also 
all-wise and all-good. For this reason the trusting 
Christian worries no more than Jesus did, Who 
looked on the lilies and the sparrows, and saw the 
gracious ways of Providence for Himself. But 
trust in God is not weakness. The soldiers of 
Gustaf Adolph of Sweden sang the great Psalms 
of David on entering the field of battle; so did the 
Ironsides of Cromwell. But they made terrible 
fighters. Their trust in God gave them strength 
for victory; a strength which is still at the dis- 
posal of God’s trusting children. 

2. Christian trust needs to extend to fellow 
Christians, so long as they, too, have their trust 
centered in God. ‘“ Put not your trust in princes ” 
(Ps. 146:3), remains forever true. But it is the 
plan of God that His children shall trust Him 
jointly as well as individually. For the work 
of the Lord must be done for the most part 
jointly. A good Christian trusts the Church and 
its work, so long as this is in line with God’s re- 


THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES 167 


vealed will. He trusts his fellow-workers to do 
their share of the kingdom’s service. He does not 
consider himself another Atlas on whose shoul- 
ders the whole world’s burdens must be carried. 
He shares the bearing of burdens with others: His 
confidence in God does not decrease, but does in- 
crease his confidence in those who with him trust 
in God. Looking into the future he will not pine, 
fearing that when his own hand shall slip from the 
helm, the ship must needs be wrecked. His trust 
in God extends beyond himself into the world. 
His trust grows into faith. 


Faith 


We have already seen how one virtue grows out 
of another and accompanies that other. The 
Christian who trusts, finds faith establishing itself 
in his heart. But faith and trust, though close 
akin, are not identical. There is more mental 
energy in faith. Imagination takes a larger part. 
If trust is a virtue of the child of God, faith is the 
virtue of the man of God. One trusts in the dark, 
knowing that God is light and already sees all 
things. One has faith in the light, on the heights, 
where things can be seen in conjunction and as one 
great whole. ‘Trust takes hold of the hands of 
God; faith looks out with the sight of God. 

It should be clear from this that faith is not 
blind. Were it blind, it would be superstition. 
Faith has its basis in knowledge and is guided by 


168 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


wisdom. Credo, ut intelligam, said the philoso- 
phers of the Middle Ages, that is, “I believe, in 
order that I may know.” To which idiom there 
is some truth; for frequently we must first walk 
by faith and then go on by sight. But turn this 
idiom around and it applies still better, “ I know, 
that I may believe.”” When we know the will of 
God, and are assured of His supreme sovereignty 
in the universe, then we are able to go on with 
faith. For we know that God sees the end from 
the beginning and that His purposes are ultimately 
reached, as the waters of the river ultimately 
reach the sea. Knowledge is, therefore, projected 
by means of faith. Knowing the nature of God in 
a measure, we thereby know the future in a 
measure. We have hold of the right premises; 
hence we can draw right inferences and conclu- 
sions. The Missionary, who goes to a people who 
have never heard of Christ, does not know whether 
he will personally see those people in mass turn- 
ing toward their Redeemer; but he does know 
that in the end heathenism must pass away and 
Christianity become victorious. 

It is largely because of this basis of faith, in 
things assuredly known, that creeds can be for- 
mulated. There are certain outstanding principles 
in the Christian’s mind, which require no more new 
searching; they have proved true. Such outstand- 
ing truths as God’s love for us; our need of God; 
Christ’s sacrifice for us; our debt to Him, and 


THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES 169 


others which in previous chapters we have studied, 
these have become self-evident to us. They form 
part of our faith; they are our creed. On that 
faith we are ready to act. It is not too much to 
say, then, that Christian faith leads to the Chris- 
tian’s faithfulness. 


Hope 

There is close kinship between faith and hope, 
as appears in the classic passage (Heb. 11:1), 
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the 
evidence of things not seen.” It seems customary 
to think of hope as a somewhat weaker virtue than 
faith. The words “I hope so,” do not carry great 
conviction. Nevertheless, this Christian virtue is 
in every way as significant as any of those we have 
mentioned. To sense the greatness of it, try to 
drop it out. Eliminate hope and see what is left. 
Picture David Livingstone in the heart of Africa 
without hope. Imagine Peary laboring his way 
toward the North Pole, hopeless. Without endur- 
ing hope those heroes could never have reached 
their objective. Sickness would have gripped 
them; discouragement would have laid them low. 
For the opposite of hope is despair. Hope puts 
Springs in one’s steps; hope rejuvenates; hope sus- 
tains effort. Hope keeps this old earth of ours 
active and in order. A hopeless world would spell 
chaos. 

The Christian needs hope, because faith is so 


170 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


frequently put to shame. Jerry McAuley, in his 
Water Street Mission, New York City, saw his 
faith deceived many a time by the bums he tried 
to raise up; but his hope could not be deceived. 
‘“‘ Hope springs eternal in the human breast.” 

The Christian’s hope rests, with every other 
virtue, first in God. Were it not for God, there 
would be no chance for hope. But in face of 
every disappointment his hope in God is not 
shaken. The things for which he hopes have their 
basis in his faith; which means that his hopes are 
rooted in God. His faith is workable, because he 
hopes. He links earth with heaven through hope. 
There is not the certainty in his hope which there 
is in his faith; but that very uncertainty means 
more romance and thrill. 

“Tf hopes were dupes, fears may be liars. 
Who knows, but in yon smoke concealed, 
Our comrades chase e’en now the fers. 
And, but for us, possess the field.” 

In this spirit the most hopeful Christian is an 
inspiration to others who have less hold on hope 
in God. 

: Courage 

Where the virtues already mentioned have their 
perfect way, there arises a resultant that may be 
called ‘“ Courage.” Without those virtues, cour- 
age would be out of the question. This does not 
mean that courage is purely a combination of 
other virtues; it has a quality of its own. But in 


THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES 171 


its turn it supplies quality to all other virtues. We 
might so completely trust God’s omnipotence that 
we ourselves might not lift a finger. Our fathers 
actually dealt in such a way about Foreign Mis- 
sions. They trusted that God would do with the 
heathen as He pleased; so they left those Christ- 
less people severely alone, except for monetary ex- 
ploitation. They had faith in God, too, but failed 
to offer themselves as instruments in the hands of 
God. Courage means throwing your own heart 
into the work. 

The stem on which the word courage is built, 
is cor, or corda, which means heart. To have 
courage, then, means to be willing to throw one’s 
whole self into a project. The really courageous 
person considers the accomplishment of a set en- 
terprise worth the price of his life. For this rea- 
son Jesus Christ may be regarded the greatest 
hero, who, as the street-urchin put it, “‘ Died, and 
didn’t have to.” The work of the Kingdom of 
God is waiting for just such courage; the impetus 
of men and women who throw their lives into the 
kingdom enterprise. Those who lack that courage 
display its opposite, which is cowardice. Their 
hearts are not in it. 

Courage is sure to meet with opposition; but 
this serves to stimulate to more courageous effort. 
Washington at Valley Forge, Abraham Lincoln in 
his Second Inaugural Address, William the Silent 
setting himself at the head of an untrained people 


172 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


against the empire of Spain, Jonathan and his 
armor-bearer fighting the Philistines, Jesus alone 
in Pilate’s Court, these are illustrious examples of 
courage. And out of it comes the satisfaction with 
which Paul expressed his feelings, ‘‘ I have fought 
a good fight” (II Tim. 4:7); also the fulfillment 
of the promise from the lips of the Son of man, 
“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with 
me on my throne” (Rev. 3:21). 


Sincerity 

The original of the word, sine cere, ‘“‘ without 
wax,” does still reveal its splendid meaning. The 
Christian ought to be no other than he seems to 
be. Those leaders of the Jews who laid upon the 
people burdens which they themselves did not 
touch, tried to look different from what they were; 
they were actors. But Jesus saw through them and 
called them what they were,—actors, or hypocrites. 
And there were none whose sins our gentle Saviour 
so thoroughly and consistently despised. Except 
for genuine repentance, Jesus saw no hope for 
them. To this day the insincere person is the most 
difficult to meet, because he twists and thwarts the 
basic principles of life. There is nothing steady 
on which to stand with him. He betrays past, pres- 
ent and future. An insincere Christian is a con- 
tradiction of terms. 

The true Christian is sincere with God. He does 
not try to hide from God his evil tendencies and 


THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES 173 


his mistakes; neither his plans and aspirations. 
All things are open and above-board between him 
and his Lord. This is the surest basis of sincerity. 
It is the only reliable basis. The true Christian 
knows that God’s program must be his own pro- 
gram; that God’s work is his own work; that his 
own talents are divine gifts; that God is the owner 
of all. His life belongs to God. This sincerity 
makes him a partner with God. The victories of 
God are his own victories. 

The Christian is sincere toward his neighbor. 
If all the virtues we have considered form part of 
the Christian’s make-up, then he will almost surely 
be glad to meet with others. But should he not 
be glad, then he must not pretend. He must be 
harmless but honest. The Christian never plans 
ways by which he shall be advantaged to the dis- 
advantage of others; neither will he attempt to 
make things appear different from what they are. 
He will not dare accuse any person who is not 
present to defend himself; for this is playing false, 
even if the story were true. The Christian will be 
careful not to give others “a piece of his mind,” 
for that would be the worst of himself and would 
do himself injustice. In all these ways he will 
eliminate chief causes of strife and trouble. 

The Christian is sincere with himself. He does 
not argue the cause of wrong until his conscience 
is silenced. He does not allow his feet to risk the 
slippery paths of speculation, nor does he play with 


174 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


fire. He prays daily, ‘‘ Lead us not into tempta- 
tion, but deliver us from evil.” He is far more 
strict with himself than with anyone else, and con- 
dones the lowering of standards by others far more 
readily than by himself. 


“To thine own self be true, 
And it must follow as the night the day 
Thou canst not then be false to any man.” 


Liberality 

The Kingdom of God is built on a liberal plan. 
It is God’s will that His children, too, shall practice 
liberality. He takes care that those who carry out 
this divine principle shall not suffer for it, ‘ The 
liberal soul shall be made fat.” 

God wants us to be liberal with our money. At 
least one tenth was the proportion suggested among 
His ancient people. His work to-day is not pro- 
gressing as it would, were the people of God more 
liberal. Considering that God values a single soul 
more highly than all the treasures of the universe, 
this marks a serious defect. Christian liberality is 
essential for the progress of His kingdom. 

God wants us to be liberal with our time. Every 
day He expects us to have a bit of conversation 
with Him; also every week one day, and every 
year one week. Considering the countless num- 
bers of His people whom He thus invites, this re- 
quires infinite attention on God’s part; but He is 
ever ready. God is liberal with time, because 


THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES 175 


eternity is His. But He also promises to us 
eternal life. 

God wants us to be liberal with our talents. He 
first gave us these talents. We derive pleasure 
from their use; but God asks for a tithe on them, 
too. Our songs, our musical attainments, our 
Bible knowledge, our pedagogical preparation, our 
acquaintance with people and conditions, all these 
we should liberally lay at the Master’s feet. In 
it all we are asked to give ourselves, for “‘ The gift 
without the giver is bare.” 


Purity 


The greatest sorrows that have visited humanity 
have come through defects in purity. Wherever 
there are sordid motives there is impurity; but let 
us now think of purity as it is usually understood 
in modern times, the pure relationships between 
the sexes. Impurity has cast a blast on every 
civilization and has ultimately wrought its ruin. 
But purity has invariably brought happiness and 
health. 

Impurity expresses itself in modern times chiefly 
through divorce and smutty intimations. Purity 
finds expression in the Christian home, in Christian’ 
fellowship, in innocent recreation at suitable times, 
in serving God and man for the welfare of human- 
ity and the glory of God. Purity is so essential 
in Christian work because the Christian religion as 
such knows neither Jew nor Greek, neither male 


176 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


nor female (Gal. 3:28). There is no sex in the 
Christian religion. Therefore, Christian workers 
are constantly thrown together from both sexes and 
must work in intimate association. Women trust 
men who do Christian work. It is the depth of 
treachery to abuse this freedom and to betray such 
simple trust. Every thought of sex must be cast 
out by the Christian worker, while laboring with 
others in the kingdom of God. He, who finds him- 
self unable to suppress the animal while serving at 
God’s altar, must withdraw himself until the 
needed grace is given him; or find the needed 
strength direct from God. This does not mean, 
however, that unmarried Christian workers do 
wrong, while laboring together, to observe each 
other’s virtues and to enter upon that stage usually 
known as love. They may love each other with 
perfect purity. And blessed are those Christian 
workers, who find their companions for life in this 
environment. 
Love 

But the greatest of these is love; because it is 
most abiding. Faith will be changed into sight, 
and hope will some day be realized. But love 
never needs to undergo a change, because its 
nature is eternal. By this is meant, of course, not 
primarily the love between a man and a maid, but 
rather the love whose origin and objective are spir- 
itual. This love cannot be defined; because, as in 
the case of God, it has no limits; its source and 


THE CHRISTIAN VIRTUES 177 


aim is God. But love finds expression in certain 
feelings and activities that help us to understand it. 

Love casts out envy, jealousy and bitterness. It 
has no room for anything unlovely. Instead, it 
practices charity and benevolence. Love sees good 
where hatred sees nothing but evil. A story is re- 
lated of a crowd standing about a dead dog on the 
wayside, of which every one in the crowd had 
something ugly to say. There seemed to be noth- 
ing good to be remarked about that despicable cur. 
But a young man on the edge of the crowd said, 
“What beautiful pearly teeth.” That young man, 
according to the story, was Jesus. Whether this 
be true, we know that Jesus saw good in Nathaniel, 
called Simon a rock, and loved the rich, young 
ruler, who failed to follow Him. 

To know what love is, read and read again I 
Corinthians 13. Read and read again the Gospel 
according to John. But even so, we cannot know 
what love is unless we have it in our own hearts. 


“ Love's on the high road, 
Love's on the by-road, 
Love's in the meadow, and love is in the mart, 
And m every byway, 
Wherever I go my way, 
I see love asmiling, because love is in my heart.” 


These are the great Christian virtues, which, 
being lived by us, serve to incarnate in our lives 
the truth of God in a measure, as it was once in- 
carnated in full through Jesus Christ, our Lord. 


178 * THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


For this purpose are all the teachings of the Chris- 
tian faith. 


SUGGESTIONS FoR Discussion 

1. Bring out clearly and fully from the members 
their views of a virtuous life as compared with a dis- 
solute life. Then discuss the second Parable of Luke 
Fifteenth. Do not fear to include also the first and 
the third Parable of that chapter. 

2. Have the papers read on particular virtues and 
discuss them jointly. 

3. Allow expression regarding the highest virtue; 
the most popular virtue; the most useful virtue. 

4. Elicit opinion regarding the absence of certain 
virtues on the part of some, who nevertheless are | 
strong in other virtues. 

5. Discuss cases of religious workers who did suc- 
cessful Christian work, while secretly practicing vices. 
Look this straight in the face, and reach a solution; 
otherwise, do not touch it. 

6. Find out how members account for people who 
do not confess Christ, but who lead moral lives. 

7. Immanuel Kant, the great philosopher, main- 
tained that when virtue became a pleasure, it could 
no longer be reckoned as a virtue. Does this appear 
true? 

8. If religion without morality is monstrous, what 
about morality without religion? 

9. Which virtue has been hardest to attain? Rea- 
sons. 


For Further Research 

The Seven Cardinal Virtues, James Stalker. 

The Homely Virtues, Ian Maclaren (John Wat- 
son). 

The Fact of Christ, Ch. VII, P. Carnegie Simpson. 

Reading day by day: Rom. 12; Phil, 2:1-11; I 
Thess,’ 5715-25; ID Pt. 1:1-8; Heb. fl: 1-63) Prove 
Bie esol LL rim 2 20-26: 


XI 
WORLD LEADERSHIP 


HE Kingdom of God is being established 
on the plan of continuous increase. Even- 
tually it must embrace the whole spiritual 
and physical universe. Nothing less than this was 
ever in the mind of God and nothing less will be 
accomplished. Christ saw this when, even facing 
the crucifixion, He exclaimed, “‘ I have overcome 
the world.” There is no room in this world for 
two governments. Whatever forces have arisen to 
set themselves against the gracious sovereignty of 
God, have been permitted to exert their evil ener- 
gies only for a season. They are already doomed; 
for God would not be God if He did not prevail. 


An Increasing Government 


There came to our home in childhood an annual 
pamphlet that had on its fly-leaf the picture of a 
strong-built church, founded on a rock. The rock 
was surrounded by sea-billows that rolled and 
roared against it from every side. Underneath the 
picture was the text, ‘On this rock have I built 
My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail 


against it” (Matt. 16:18). Connecting picture 
179 


180 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


and text, the impression was strongly made, that, 
no matter what wicked powers might hurl them- 
selves against the Church, she could never be over- 
thrown. Which is most true. But the saying of 
Jesus means much more. Gates are for the pur- 
pose of keeping people out of the city, who are not 
wanted there. Gates of hell would equally be for 
the purpose of keeping out of that domain the 
forces of God. But those gates will not hold out 
against the Church, says Jesus. Which means 
that the forces of God will break through those 
gates that the forces of evil have set up, and will 
win for Christ what should always have been His. 

This is no isolated teaching; it is the tenor of 
all the Scriptures. The stone which Nebuchadnez- 
zar saw in his dream, tumbling against the mighty 
image and grinding it to powder, did not remain 
on that spot, but spread and spread until it filled 
the earth (Dan. 2:35). The prophecy of Isaiah 
regarding the coming King (Isa. 9:6, 7), assures 
us that “ of the increase of his government and of 
his peace there shall be no end.” The promise of 
the Second Psalm is, “ I shall give thee the heathen 
for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of 
the earth for thy possession.” Zechariah, speak- 
ing of that triumphal entry which the Messiah was 
one day to make into Jerusalem (Zech. 9:10; Lk. 
19:38), assigns the King’s dominion “ from sea to 
sea and from the rivers even to the ends of the 
earth.” 


WORLD LEADERSHIP 181 


This is the teaching of Jesus. Because of love 
for the whole world He came, and to the whole 
world His message must be taken,—first to Jeru- 
salem, then to Judea, then to Samaria, and finally 
to the uttermost part of the earth. It is the genius 
of the Kingdom of God to make Christ King in 
every heart and to make the ruling principles of 
heaven operative everywhere. This teaching is so 
clearly taught in The Lord’s Prayer, and is so uni- 
versally and thoroughly accepted, that we need not 
present it further in this study. We need consider, 
however, by what means this is to be brought 
about. 


Victory Through Information 


It has been previously remarked that Kingdom 
victories are through the Word, not through the 
sword. The spreading of good tidings is the first 
means of spreading the government of Christ. 
When Abraham was called away from his kin, to 
become a blessing to all the world (Gen. 12:3), 
God’s confidence in him was founded on the teach- 
ings of his own household (Gen. 18:19). There 
is every evidence that God had planned to have 
His chosen people carry the good tidings from 
Palestine to the ends of the earth; but they failed 
to carry out His benevolent purposes. The story 
of Jonah illustrates the story of all Israel—a peo- 
ple unwilling to extend their blessings to the 
Gentiles. 


182 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


Isaiah (ch. 11:1-9) portrays the workings of the 
principles of the Messiah; when strife and hurt 
have passed away, the wolf lying down beside the 
lamb, the cow and the bear feeding together, and 
the child, just weaned, playing safely with other- 
wise poisonous snakes, and all because, ‘“‘ The 
earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as 
the waters cover the sea.”’ In similar strain our 
Saviour tells us of the woman, who put her leaven 
in the loaves she was getting ready for baking. In 
each loaf the leaven started its work, touching the 
next cell and the next. There were explosions and 
expansions in each loaf, causing the loaves to grow 
longer and broader and higher, “ until the whole 
was leavened.” ‘Thus, Jesus tells us, is the exten- 
sive work of the Kingdom of God. Each individ- 
ual teaching another, it spreads. Scarcely had our 
Lord ascended for more than four months, when 
messengers told the Jewish Sanhedrin, ‘‘ They are 
filling Jerusalem with their teaching.” When Paul 
and Silas traveled in Europe, the opposition at 
Thessalonica cried out against them, ‘“‘ These men 
that are turning the world upside down have come 
hither also”? (Acts 17:6). Which was precisely 
what they planned to do; for the world without 
Christ was standing on its head. They came to set 
it aright again. But their only weapon was the 
Gospel. They merely wanted people to know of 
Jesus and His love; the rest they were willing to 
leave to God. 


WORLD LEADERSHIP 183 


Jesus, about to enter the Garden of Gethsemane, 
prayed, “‘ This is life eternal that they might know 
thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom 
thou hast sent.” Later, when His work on earth 
had been accomplished, He gave the great com- 
mandment, “ Go ye into all the world and make 
disciples of all nations.” But the making of dis- 
ciples always involves three steps,—first, to reach 
them; second, to teach them; and third, to train 
them. This is the program of Jesus; it is the pro- 
gram of the Kingdom of God. 


The Program Jesus Inaugurated 


Jesus began His ministry with preaching; which 
always means missionary or extension work. “ Let 
us go into the next towns,” He said (Mk. 1:38), 
“‘for therefore am I come.” But soon He began 
to teach; that is, He gathered about Him a group 
which He first had reached, and instructed them 
more intimately in the way. This naturally led on 
to the third step; which is training. He sent the 
disciples out, two by two, telling them what to do 
and teach. They came back with reports, and He 
corrected their methods. When someone cast out 
devils in the name of Jesus, without joining their 
own group, and the disciples would denounce such 
an interloper (Lk. 9:49, 50), Jesus advised them 
to rejoice because another voice was proclaiming 
good tidings. When they would return evil for 
evil, to call down fire over a hateful village (Lk. 


184 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


9:54), the Master showed them a better way. At 
last He could say, “ It is expedient for you that I 
go away.” There was still much to be learned; 
but they had caught the Master’s principles and 
would be able by the guidance of the Holy Spirit 
to go on after He had left them bodily. 

The Church has been most successful where it 
has carried out the program of Jesus. Paul was 
first of all a missionary. Like Jesus, he went from 
place to place, preaching, or reaching. But Paul 
also became a great teacher. Those people whom 
he had reached, stood in dire need of instruction. 
Many problems arose which they were unable to 
solve,—the relation of a Christian master to a 
Christian slave; the eating of meat, offered to 
idols; the worship of Christ as well as of God the 
Father; the reputed need of Jewish ceremony 
among Christians. Paul tried to answer their ques- 
tions and wrote at least thirteen letters. These 
letters became the text-books of the churches. 
Paul was their teacher. He also trained young 
men to carry on the work without him. Timothy 
was one of the promising youths; whom he found 
and prepared for service. Titus was another; 
Silas a third. Presently, when the Apostle was 
confined to prison, the work went steadily on; for 
Paul had obeyed the principles of World Leader- 
ship; he had followed the program of Jesus. 

For three hundred years the Church remained 
faithful to that great program. Then gradually 


WORLD LEADERSHIP 185 


the teaching function diminished. Soon the preach- 
ing function went with it. Without preaching and 
teaching there could be little training. Boys were 
given some Latin to participate in the priests’ 
rituals; some hymnody to sing; a little arithmetic 
to compute holidays; but the great principles of 
Christianity were kept from them. The Church 
entered upon its thousand years of darkness. 

The great Reformation called the people back 
to the Word. It inaugurated an era of teaching; 
but not of preaching. The missionaries of that 
age and of three following centuries were Jesuits; 
not Protestants. But a Church that teaches with- 
out preaching is headed for Rationalism. This is 
exactly what occurred during the eighteenth cen- 
tury. At the close of that deadening era, the 
young men of the Church awakened to the mean- 
ing of Christ’s last marching order. William 
Carey began the great movement, that has con- 
trolled the nineteenth century for Missions. But 
teaching did not improve during that same age. 
Pastors had handed their teaching functions over 
to laymen, whom they had not prepared. Homes, 
too, relegated Christian training to the Sunday 
school. But now, in the twentieth century, the 
threefold program of Jesus is once more before 
us,—to reach, or preach, to teach, and to train. 


Extending the Kingdom’s Realm 


Preaching, Missions, and Evangelism are in the 
main but different names for the extension work of 


186 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


the Church. In the local church the preaching 
service should be planned to win for Christ those 
who have not confessed His name. Where this is 
not planned there may be teaching; but there is 
no preaching. For preaching is in its nature the 
bringing of the first good tidings; while teaching 
is the more intimate explanation of the Kingdom 
principles. After Jesus had preached to the 
crowds, He taught His little group. But the plan 
of reaching or preaching should go beyond the 
local church both within State and nation, and 
even beyond its bounds. It should form part of 
the great plan of Missions in all the world. 

1. Foreign Missions. Every Church is to-day 
recognizing its world-task. Men and women are 
going out to the ends of the earth to bring Christ 
there. Not all of them go to preach sermons; but 
all do go to reach. There is room for many med- 
ical men and nurses; for teachers and artisans; for 
farmers and consecrated business men and women. 
The field is open for Christians whose bodies are 
healthy, whose minds are normal, whose prepara- 
tion has been efficient, and who are able to work 
congenially with others. This, we cannot help be- 
lieving, is the greatest summons to our young 
people. In the homeland many applicants are 
pushing each other aside to gain a position. Yon- 
der the fields are white and harvesters are all too 
few. The most certain way of making one’s life 
count is in the Foreign Field. 


WORLD LEADERSHIP 187 


2. National Missions. America in particular 
offers unbounded fields at home. The many mil- 
lions of foreigners who have crowded our shores, 
stand greatly in need of Christian influences. 
They did not come here with the purpose of find- 
ing Christ; they frankly came to better their liv- 
ing conditions. But Christianity will serve more 
effectively than anything else to help them better 
their living conditions, both in this world and in 
that which is to come. The discontent that urged 
these people from their homelands is in itself a 
strong incentive for the acceptance of Christ’s 
Gospel; if only they understand the messengers 
who bring that Gospel. Such people need and 
want friendship. The writer of these chapters 
happens to be one of them; so that he knows 
whereof he speaks. The foreigner can be reached 
heart to heart better than head to head. It re- 
quires no mental genius to get close to him; but it 
requires a Christlike soul. Those young people 
who are assured they can never go out to the For- 
eign Field, should make the work of Home Mis- 
sions their next great concern. God sent us these 
many people; it is ours to bring Christ to them. 
If we fail in this, the consequences for evil, to 
them, to ourselves and to our children, are in- 
calculable. 7 

Thousands also of our own people, born and 
raised in America, are still ignorant of Christ’s 
teachings. Descendants of the Scotch and Scotch- 


188 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


Irish in the southern mountains are in desperate 
need of Christian leadership. Pioneers in the 
northern sections, where they are digging stumps 
and clearing land, are living with their children 
away from Gospel preaching and teaching. They 
need the Missionary. In the very heart of New 
Jersey, less than fifty miles from Philadelphia, a 
group of five thousand refugees from law and 
order are living in huts and hovels, with no Chris- 
tian leader among them. The man or woman who 
really looks for tasks can find them among native 
Americans; who without the touch of some Chris- 
tian life are tending toward the Christless grave. 
3. Local church work. In every neighborhood 
where churches are established there are unreached 
people who may still be reached. The chief pur- 
pose of the local church is not to “ Break the 
bread of life,” to its own members, but rather to 
bring food to those starving souls. Each local 
church should be built on the extension plan; else 
it will die. Homes may be reached that have little 
children. Neither father nor mother is able or 
willing to attend the services of the church; but 
almost without exception, babies can be placed on 
the Cradle Roll. This simple act puts a link be- 
tween church and home. The little child can be 
taught a blessing at the table; can be invited to an 
Easter Service to be on the platform for a moment 
with other babes; may be brought to the Begin- 
ners’ Department of the Sunday school about the 


WORLD LEADERSHIP 189 


time of her birthday, and will presently become a 
member of that department. Home Department 
and Cradle Roll should work hand and glove, that 
mothers as well as little children may be reached. 
The Ladies’ Aid Society, or whatever corre- 
sponds to it in a local church, offers another field 
for extension. Many of its members are not ready 
to unite with the church. But their attendance at 
the Ladies’ Aid Society provides good contacts. 
There are classes in the Sunday school open for 
them. The Missionary Society should invite them. 
Special services at the church may attract them. 
Men’s clubs are of similar import; so are all or- 
ganized classes in the Sunday school. Their pur- 
pose should be extension. Annually, a survey or 
census ought to be made in the community to make 
certain that none are omitted whom the church 
may serve. Hospital patients are glad of attention. 
Jesus Himself suggests the needy and those in 
prison. Strangers that have just moved into the 
neighborhood should be invited. Open-air services 
are in place during the summer season. 
Evangelistic services should form a part of each 
year’s program in the local church. There may be 
times when outside evangelists are best able to 
bring conviction; for they can call attention to 
sins which local leaders would hesitate to mention. 
Boys and girls whom the church touches should be 
led both by the teachers of their classes and by 
their pastor to a public confession of Christ, and 


190 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


must be taught the meaning of Church membership 
with all that it implies. 


The Work of Instruction 


Teaching follows reaching, or preaching. There 
are facts and principles which disciples should 
know; or they will find themselves seriously handi- 
capped. The emphasis of great men in the Bible 
is on knowledge. Such knowledge, to be effective, 
must be of heart and will, as well as head; but 
knowledge there must be to make the full-fledged 
Christian. Among the things Christians must 
know, shall they lead others to Christ, the follow- 
ing stand out clearly: 

1. Christians must know God as revealed in 
Jesus Christ. They should see God also in nature, 
in history, in biographies, and particularly in their 
own lives. They should meditate on the character 
of God and His attributes; on His relationships 
with men and His ways of dealing with them. 
They need to form daily, personal friendship with 
God, telling Him their plans and leaning on Him 
for strength. Themselves they must more and 
more consider God’s helpers. 

2. Christians must know the Word of God. The 
great principles of the Bible’s teachings must be 
mastered, to form a system or philosophy of life 
by which to live. Great topics should be studied 
connectedly through the Bible, and certain books 
should be grasped so thoroughly that reasons for 


- - 


WORLD LEADERSHIP 191 


its writing, effects of its messages, and applications 
for to-day are understood. The customs of Bible 
lands need to be known for backgrounds of Bible 
messages. Choicest expressions in the Bible ought 
to be memorized, because they gave vent to human 
souls yearning for God and seeing the hand of God 
about them. 

3. Christians should know the Christian Church. 
Christ loved the Church supremely. He called 
Himself the Bridegroom, and His Church, the 
Bride (Jn. 3:29; Matt. 9:15). For the Church 
He gave His life. Through the Church He is 
doing His work to-day. His body ascended to 
heaven, but the Church is Christ’s body on earth 
(I Cor. 12:14; Rom. 12:4), of which He is the 
Head. But we cannot love the Church, unless we 
know it. Our children are taught American his- 
tory in the grammar grades, not because history is 
a grammar study; but because without knowing 
our country’s history, they could not love our 
country. Almost no church member has even read 
the story of his church. This marks a deplorable 
lack. Beginning with the local church, each Chris- 
tian should acquaint himself with the story of its 
origin, the people who started that local church, 
their troubles, sacrifices and successes. Then the 
story of one’s denomination should be studied; for 
like every nation, so every denomination has a 
glorious story to tell its children. With this for a 
background, the General History of the great 


192 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


Church of Christ should be mastered. Then shall 
God’s children be at least able to love His Church. 

4. Christians should know human nature. Jesus 
knew what was in man (Matt. 9:4; Jn. 2:24). 
We cannot readily convey God’s truth of life un- 
less we know the life into which it is to be brought. 
This means a study of psychology. It may not be 
necessary for every Christian leader to be an ex- 
pert in psychology; but its great principles he 
should master;—the successive stages from birth 
to maturity; the workings of the nervous system; 
the meaning of instincts and habits, and the cor- 
relations of mental powers. 

5. Christians should know ways of teaching. 
To know a lesson to be taught is not sufficient; be- 
cause a pupil is to be taught. But to know the 
pupil is not quite sufficient either; for there are 
right or wrong ways of conveying the truth of God. 
If the child were a funnel through which informa- 
tion could be poured, it might be simple enough; 
but the pupil is alive. We need to master ways 
of approaching human souls. When Hamlet of- 
fered Rosenkrans a harp to play upon it, Rosen- 
krans confessed his ignorance; yet that same 
Rosenkrans attempted to play upon the soul of 
Hamlet. Pedagogy is essential for success in 
Christian teaching. 

6. Christians should have some idea of Chris- 
tion Ethics, Christian Sociology, and of Political 
Economy from a Christian point of view. For the 


WORLD LEADERSHIP 193 


normal, active Christian will be drawn sooner or 
later into spheres of activity, where the name of 
Christ will be honored only in so far as a Chris- 
tian leader arises, who sees things clearly with a 
Christian’s eyes. 


Christian Training 

Training is the putting into practice, under di- 
rection, of the principles that have been taught. 
Without some phase of training, every principle 
remains a theory. To live out what has been men- 
tally understood is to engage in training. Our 
Lord, therefore, sent out His disciples long before 
they were ready to labor independently. Their 
contacts with men saved them from mere theoriz- 
ing and made them plunge headlong into practice. 
This principle of preparing leaders remains eter- 
nally true. 

1. Training in extension work. The smallest 
child that is being taught of Christ, must at the 
same time be told to tell of Christ. Little children 
in our Sunday schools, whose parents attend no 
religious gatherings, must be instructed to climb 
on father’s lap and to make him read the Lesson 
Story. Nothing will serve to reach that father- 
heart so well as his own child. “ A little child shall 
lead them.” This method needs to be followed all 
the way. Children through their Junior years may’ 
innocently propagate the Gospel in their immedi- 
ate environs. Those more advanced should still 


194 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


do so, although naturally they do it more con- 
sciously. It must be a rule of Christian teaching 
that every impression which results in no expres- 
sion is failure. What we teach must be told and 
lived. 

This applies equally to worship. The child that 
is taught to pray within the walls of a church- 
building, needs to be taught definitely how to ex- 
tend worship beyond those walls. Too many of 
our charges believe that God may be worshiped 
on Sundays and in church; but at no other time 
or place. This must immediately be rectified. 
Blessings at the table, morning and evening pray- 
ers, Bible passages, great hymns and songs need 
to be taught them, that shall be their companions 
through the week. Not all of these should be 
memoriter. Children soon learn to compose their 
own prayers; under careful guidance. 

Young disciples must be taught to invite others, 
and to go after delinquents. This may be so ar- 
ranged that each week or each month certain of 
them have their turn. Their work must be fol- 
lowed up, and made to look as important to them 
as it really is; for in this way we are preparing 
world-leaders. Suitable praise must not be neg- 
lected; where helpful service has been rendered, 
or attempted. 

2. Training to instruct. After the young people 
have pursued courses in Teacher Training and 
have successfully passed examinations in such 


WORLD LEADERSHIP 195 


courses, they are not fully prepared to teach inde- 
pendently. Under skillful direction they must put 
into practice the theories they have acquired. 
First, they may sit with those who are ably in- 
structing pupils of similar capacity with those 
whom they are presently to take. Then, they may 
themselves under direction enter upon the teach- 
ing of those for whom they are best fitted. But 
their training course is not yet over. They need 
to discuss sympathetically with other teachers the 
problems that arise, the failures that baffle them, 
and the successes that make them glad. This 
method of training never ceases. Avoidance of it 
is sufficient indication that usefulness has discon- 
tinued. Every Church School should appoint reg- 
ular sessions at which the leaders consider with 
intimate frankness the real purpose of their work, 
the best means to attain to that purpose, the things 
that hinder, and the ways that have proved most 
helpful. Occasionally, tests should be given the 
pupils to ascertain the measure of their grasp on 
the subject. At all times, the effects of the in- 
structions upon the pupils’ actions should be ob- 
served, and in the teachers’ hearts the hope must 
be kept alive that by and by these pupils will 
themselves have classes. One purpose of all lead- 
ership is that the leader shall become dispensable. 
3. Training to lead others. It is the plan of 
God that the followers of Christ shall be the lead- 
ers of men. Our young people must be trained to 


196 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


lead others in worship. This training may not be 
haphazard, by the rule of trial and error. The 
principles of devotional leadership are to be defi- 
nitely taught; lest many suffer through poor ways 
of worship conduct. Programs for devotions need 
to be worked out with care, in which a central 
theme forms the basis of program building, around 
which song and prayer, Scripture and testimony 
are grouped in their order. This is no hasty pro- 
cedure; it demands great effort and thought. 

Christian young people must master the prin- 
ciples of persuasion, whereby those who are not 
distinctly Christian in their attitude may be brought 
to sympathetic views. In every community there 
are enterprises that will help or hurt according to 
those who control them. Even our choicest or- 
ganizations are subject to human touch for good 
or ill. A group of Boy Scouts, for instance, may 
be trained into fidelity to God, church, and coun- 
try; or may be swung away from sacred influences, 
to break the Sabbath, to indulge in selfish pleas- 
ures at the expense of others, and to mock at Chris- 
tian manhood. The leader is the key to the whole 
situation. It is the church’s task to train and fur- 
nish right leaders. 

Municipal, state, and national government is 
safest in the hands of Christian leaders. We must 
train our young people for those imposing tasks. 
Almost without a single break the supreme govern- 
ment of our country has from the beginning been 


WORLD LEADERSHIP 197 


in the hands of strong Christian men. Our Presi- 
dents have publicly acknowledged the sovereignty 
of God and have not hesitated to direct the hearts 
of our people toward divine worship. They have 
openly advocated the principles of Jesus Christ 
both for public measures and for private life. It 
is a happy omen that these great men have put 
into practice the principle which we enunciated, 
that the followers of Christ shall be the leaders of 
men. This omen is the happier, because our 
Presidents were elected to their high office by a 
people who were convinced of their integrity. No 
party dares to put forward a candidate for that 
position, upon whose character there rests the 
slightest blot. The American people are thus 
silently expressing their avowal of Christian lead- 
ership. 

This is not equally true as yet in state and 
municipality. Bosses still rule in these lower 
places, and politics is still much besmudged. There 
is a crying need for Christian leaders to enter the 
political arena and to bring into every place of 
authority the principles of our Lord. This tremen- 
dous duty, from which no normal Christian has a 
right to shirk, must be inculcated in the minds of 
the young so that a coming generation shall be 
ready to perpetuate a government with the prin- 
ciples of Christ. 


198 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


The Rules of Leadership 


The rules that govern leadership are not mys- 
terious; they may be acquired by every Christian. 

1. A leader must understand the conditions 
among which he finds himself; the causes that 
have brought about these conditions; the factors 
that are still in. operation to continue the same 
conditions; the weak points that render these same 
causes ready subjects of attack, and the elements 
that may be united either to strengthen the good, 
or to overcome the evil. 

2. A leader must map out a program of action 
in such a form that he is able to see through it, 
and is able also to make others see through it. 
The program should be sufficiently practical to 
gain the good-will and to arouse the courage of 
others. 

3. A leader needs to persuade others of the 
plans he has in mind, without imposing on them. 
He must be willing to stand corrected where some- 
one detects a loophole, and to amend where an- 
other presents a helpful suggestion. The impres- 
sion must be made that the program is not purely 
his own; but is that of all his fellows. 

4. A leader must secure the active and sympa- 
thetic cooperation of his associates. He cannot 
work alone. Not far ahead of his group, but shoul- 
der to shoulder with them he must go forward. 

5. A leader must give and take suggestions, en- 
courage and receive encouragement, withstand the 


WORLD LEADERSHIP 199 


shocks of treachery and keep on hoping; because 
his goal is worthy. 


When and Where This Training? 


Christian training enjoys its greatest impetus in 
the Christian home. The great leaders of men on 
behalf of the government of Christ are the pro- 
ducts of Christian homes. Moses received his 
choicest training there, and so did Samuel. By 
leading the child each day into his common field 
of service, but ever with the consciousness that 
God is interested, the mind is being prepared for 
world leadership. At first the home is all alone 
in this; but presently the many homes that form 
the church are joined to continue the educational 
task. Then, too, the daily work must be observed; 
for Sunday time does not suffice. There must be 
Christian education seven days a week, shall we 
train capable leaders. The Sunday is preparatory 
for every-day instruction. And at least one definite 
hour of supervised instruction must be added each 
week, to raise the daily standard. Week-day re- 
ligious instruction has come to stay. Each local 
church needs to plan her program of education 
with week-day work included. 

The Christian college, too, must take its leading 
share in our leadership program. Supported by 
Christian funds, conducted by Christian men and 
women, we could scarcely expect anything else. 
Our young people as they pass through our Chris- 


200 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


tian colleges must be trained to go on into life’s 
activities, not feebler, but stronger workers in the 
local church. To this end the curriculum must be 
adjusted and the Faculty selected. This is the 
greatest reason for the existence of the Christian 
college. 

Students in universities and other independent 
schools must have the fellowship and guidance of 
strong Christian men and women, who shall lead 
them into avenues of Christian service. Not sel- 
dom leadership is found most richly among that 
student body. The call of their Great Leader must 
be transmitted to their hearts, so that they shall 
give themselves to full-time service, or in any event 
acknowledge the Christ as the Lord of their life. 


The Aim is Being Achieved 
The task which World leadership presents is 
tremendous; but it is God’s plan, which means that 
ultimately it must come to pass. We know that 
under His leadership we go on to victory. Nor are 
we living in hope merely; our faith is changing to 
sight. Our churches are awakening to every-day 
instruction; our colleges are heeding the call for 
Christian training; our universities are sending out 
leaders into all the world. The world’s leadership 
is within our grasp, for Christ our Supreme Leader. 
It is ours to follow on. 
SUGGESTIONS FoR DIscussION 


1. Review briefly the three preceding chapters, and 
use these for an introduction to this lesson. 


WORLD LEADERSHIP 201 


2. Give a bird’s-eye view of the progress of Chris- 
tianity from the Acts of the Apostles to our own day. 

3. Observe together the means which God has em- 
ployed in the spread of His Kingdom, including 
agents who did not willingly serve Him. 

4. Have various members enumerate those prin- 
ciples that should be known throughout the world, 
with suggestions how these teachings may best be pro- 
mulgated. 

5. Offer opportunity to every one to testify to the 
way in which he or she has actually extended the 
knowledge of Christ. 

6. Map out a general outline of curriculum in 
which the outstanding teachings of the Bible find a 
place. 

7. Consider ways and means in your own vicinity 
‘by which the best plans may be most likely carried 
out, including the time and finance elements. 

8. Find out what secular training has done for the 
personal preparation of those present, compared to 
their religious training. 

9, Assign to each member at least three Bible pas- 
‘sages to be memorized, in which the world-leadership 
of God’s people is portrayed. 


For Further Research 


God’s Missionary Plan for the World, Ch. III, IV, 
VI, J. W. Bashford. 

The Unfinished Task, Ch. I, IT, X, James ve Bar- 
‘ton. 

Leadership, Chas. H. Brent. 

Educational Evangelism, Chas. E. McKinley. 

Jesus the Master Teacher, H. H. Horne. 

Reading day by day: Gen. 12: 1-3 and 18: 17-19; 
Ps. 67; Isa. 11: 1-9; Dan. 2: 31-44; Rom. 10: 13-19; 
Acts 1: 1-8; Rev. 7:9-17. 


XII 
LIFE: EVERLASTING 


human thought and conduct that so seri- 

ously effect man as those that make him 
form his views of the hereafter. The man who 
labors under the impression that death ends all, 
will of necessity regard the affairs of this visible 
world of paramount importance. He will attempt 
to make the most of everything material and will 
not reckon with memories that may some day 
haunt him, or yield himself to prospects of joys 
that may await him. The note that burst from the 
troubled soul of Robert Burns, when he looked on 
the poor but happy birds, 


P= are the influences brought to bear upon 


“Vet thou art blest compared with me, 
The present only touches thee.” 


does not spring from his lips. For the present 
only touches him. But the man who believes that 
this life on earth is but a schooling for the larger 
life to come, will diligently set himself at the course 
of preparation. His mind is one with that of the 


poet Bryant, 
202 





LIFE EVERLASTING 203 


“ So live, that when thy summons comes to join 

The innumerable caravan which moves 

To that mysterious realm where each shall take 

His chamber in the silent halls of death, 

Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night, 
Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed 
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave 

Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch 

About him and lies down to pleasant dreams.” 

We are in this chapter considering a great issue. 
Yet, many look for some tangible evidence of a life 
hereafter and ask, ‘‘ How can we be assured? ”’ 

If evidence of the bodily senses is demanded by 
way of assurance, then we shall search in vain. 
Spiritism with its mediums and its tappings will 
never bring us light; for these are not the forces 
of light. No matter how deeply even men of 
science may grow interested in seances and rap- 
pings, the children of God are not to be deceived. 
We know better. We know that no human being 
has the power to control the souls of the redeemed 
in glory and to summon them at pleasure back to 
this mundane world. That power is God’s alone. 
If there are any spirits over whom those mediums 
can exert control, they are the spirits of darkness, 
which can never be trusted. Christian people must 
find their grounds of trust elsewhere. Happily, 
they are to be found elsewhere. 


The Grounds for Our Belief in Immortality 
It would be presumptuous for anyone to under- 
take the summing up of reasons that may be found 


204 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


in the hearts of others for their faith in the future 
life. For each of us has enjoyed his own experi- 
ence in the way of sufferings and deliverances, dis- 
appointments and hopes, fellowships and partings, 
promises and their fulfillments. But the reasons 
that will be suggested have probably made them- 
selves felt in some form on the part of those who 
have earnestly thought on these things. 

1. The indestructibility of matter. It is gen- 
erally maintained by scientists that matter cannot 
be destroyed by natural forces. It does constantly 
change in appearances; there is an interchange of 
combinations among its elements; but essentially it 
abides. The human body after death returns to 
dust; but that same dust may again serve in the 
composition of another body. It is at least dust. 


“ Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay, 
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away.” 


This is in full agreement with the Christian 
teaching that matter did not come into existence 
by natural forces alone. It is also in line with our 
teaching of immortality. For if natural forces can- 
not annihilate the body, how shall they suffice to 
annihilate the soul, which controls the body! This 
mind that has been thinking far into the future, 
can we believe that it has wholly ceased to be while 
the body is returning to its former elements? 

2. The inequalities of human life on earth. Our 
social life, in its lack of full justice to many, its 


LIFE EVERLASTING 205 


misunderstandings that are never cleared up, its 
undeserved sufferings, and its unearned pleasures, 
suggests a final reckoning and adjustment. Jesus 
puts the story of Dives and Lazarus in no uncer- 
tain terms. ‘Son, remember that thou in thy life- 
time receivedst thy good things, and likewise 
Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and 
you are tormented” (Lk. 16:25). Certainly, if 
this life were all, Justice could not have its perfect 
way. 

3. Unreached ideals. We are fathering within us 
ideals which with all our hearts we long to reach; 
but during this brief lifetime we do not reach them. 
Paul’s pressing toward the mark (Phil. 3:14), was 
not peculiar to him. Every Christian is inspired 
by unattained aspirations. These aspirations are 
not altogether contingent on material things; they 
are spiritual in their nature. The destruction of 
the body, therefore, should nowise interfere with 
the realization of these high ideals. There is need 
of further conscious striving for the reaching of the 
goal; for it touches the innermost self. Eternal 
life is the requisite of a human soul. 

4. Closely akin to this ideal urge is our daily fel- 
lowship with Christ on earth. He, who has tasted 
His comradeship, cannot be convinced that such 
friendship will be ruthlessy broken off. To begin 
this fellowship without a chance for its perpetua- 
tion would be nothing less than cruel. Rather are 
we looking for an ever increasingly intimate rela- 


206 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


tionship with Christ and with all that pertains to 
the spiritual world. 

5. What is so true of our comradeship with 
Christ is in a measure true of our friendship with 
others. Not one of us, not even the atheist, is 
ready to accept at full value the idea that the grave 
ends human existence; when this involves the utter 
breaking of our friendship ties. There is estab- 
lished within every human heart a definite hope 
that somehow, somewhere, we shall meet again with 
those whom we have loved and lost. To declare 
this hope a delusion is inhuman. 

6. The promise of Christ is ours that He has 
gone to prepare a place for us, and that He will 
come again to receive us unto Himself (Jn.14:2,3). 

7. Christ’s rising from the dead is our full assur- 
ance of rising again with Him. Other reasons are 
strong, but this is for those who have accepted Him 
the surest guarantee. The fact of His resurrection 
stands unchallenged in history; though regarding 
the form and nature of it there may be differences 
of opinion. Jesus lives; we shall live also. Not. 
simply as the Son of God did Jesus Christ break 
the bonds of death on that great Easter Morning; 
but also as the Son of man, our representative, 
“The first-born among many brethren” Rom. 
8:29). 

The Nature of Our Immortality 

Our subject lends itself to endless speculations, 

so that many people to whom theorizing seems 





LIFE EVERLASTING 207 


much more alluring than practicing, have yielded 
to the temptation of spinning out opinions that 
have little substance. In the main, however, these 
diversified opinions may be grouped under two 
heads,—those favoring the idea of death as a sleep 
from which there will be an awakening, and those 
persuaded that death involves no break in our con- 
scious existence. 

The former group may gather up much evidence 
from the Old Testament, where death is mentioned 
rather customarily as “ falling asleep.”’ But those 
who wrote the older Scripture did habitually em- 
ploy figures of speech, which may not in all fairness 
be taken literally. To this should be added that 
previous to the coming of Christ the Scripture 
teachings of a future life are anything but clear 
compared to the inspiring notes of the New Testa- 
ment, which leave no doubt to the student who is 
willing to accept new truth. The Bible teaches, re- 
garding the future life: 

1. Conscious existence. Moses, of whom the 
record witnesses that he was dead and buried, con- 
versed with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. 
So did Elijah, whose departure from this earth oc- 
curred in a peculiar way. The voice of God from 
the burning bush mentions Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob. Our Lord Himself calls attention to this 
instance to show that these patriarchs are alive. 
His parable of Dives and Lazarus pictures Abra- 
ham in heaven with Lazarus nearby, and able to 


208 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


converse with Dives. Although this is simply a 
parable, Jesus is never guilty of picturing the im- 
possible. Again, we have His promise, ‘‘ Where I 
am there ye shall be also.” 

2. Immediate entrance into the heavenly realm. 
The Roman church holds to a belief in Purgatory, 
where human souls should first be purified before 
they may enter the abode of the blessed. There is 
something in this teaching that naturally appeals 
to us; for we know ourselves so imperfect. But 
there is no such teaching in the Bible. Instead, 
there is the assurance of purification in Jesus 
Christ, which renders Rome’s Purgatory superflu- 
ous. There are also the words of Jesus to the vic- 
tim on the cross, “‘ To-day shalt thou be with me 
in Paradise.” Stephen, the Martyr (Acts 7:59), 
commended his spirit to Jesus at the moment of his 
death; just as Jesus had commended His own soul 
to God. 

3. Full enjoyment of holiness. Freed from the 
body with its nervous system, in which sin has 
brought its impressions of evil, and away from the 
sights that dazzled or tempted, our aims will be 
pure, our interests will be centered in God, we shall 
be “whole” or holy. This holiness will include 
our whole selves, it will be complete; but through 
the aeons of eternity it will grow ever deeper. 

4. Social enjoyment. Life everlasting means, 
first, our meeting with Christ Whom we love more 
than life. It also means meeting our loved ones 


LIFE EVERLASTING 209 


and friends, who have helped us on the upward 
way. There will be those, too, whom we have in- 
fluenced toward Christ. We shall enjoy the goodly 
fellowship of them all. And our universal theme 
will be, ‘‘ The grace of God in Christ Jesus.” 

5. Continuous service. On earth we often sense 
weakness of body, exhaustion of mind, discourage- 
ment of soul, and lack of time. But in heaven 
these hindrances will not be felt. We shall be able 
to serve God night and day (Rev. 7:15). Just as 
daughters help mother at home, and sons work with 
father on the farm, so shall the great household of 
God serve Him together. A new heaven and a new 
earth will be our home, in which righteousness 
dwelleth (II Pt. 3:13). There His servants shall 
truly serve Him (Rev. 22:3). If song and prayer 
shall form part of that service, the beautifying of 
the earth, too, may provide further employment, 
as it did when man had not yet sinned. 

6. God as the center of life and thought, and the 
goal of the soul’s ideals. Not the meeting again 
with loved ones, but the coming face to face with 
Christ is the supreme fact of immortality. We 
shall be forever with the Lord. The infinite at- 
tributes of God we shall contemplate and adore. 
His ways with us, so gracious; His works, so ma- 
jestic and wise; His plans so abundant in depth, 
and width and length; His inherent tenderness and 
power; His absolute holiness, these phases of God’s 
Being we shall contemplate through the eternities. 


210 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


7. Gradual growth in wisdom and love. When 
hope has been realized and faith has changed to 
sight, then love will still endure and evermore in- 
crease. There is no standing still for immortal 
souls. The presence of God, the liberty from sin, 
the fellowship of the saints, these will have their 
part in the augmenting of our love. At the same 
time these experiences will serve to strengthen our 
wisdom and to increase our knowledge. Thus shall 
we grow in the likeness of our Redeemer, “‘ For we 
shall see Him as He is.” 


The Last Judgment 


Not merely here and there, but consistently 
throughout the Bible we come across assurances 
that some day we shall all stand before the judg- 
ment seat of God (Rom. 14:10; Acts 24:25; Heb. 
O22 034 Jno 5i 22,1 9239 18:8 Bech. iio anes 
Then shall the things we have thought, said, and 
done on earth stand out before our memories with 
perfect clearness, as if written on the pages of a 
record-book, and of these experiences account must 
be rendered (Matt. 12:36; Rom. 14:12). 

Naturally this teaching does not strongly appeal 
to those who have accumulated heavy debts and are 
not willing to cast their burden on Jesus. They do 
not want any judgment to come; accordingly they 
try to persuade themselves that all such teaching 
is foolish babble. But their denial of a judgment 
does not in the least alter the fact of a judgment. 





LIFE EVERLASTING 211 


The witness of the Bible suffices for us who believe 
it to be God’s Word. But even aside from the 
Bible, the deepest thinker of modern days, Im- 
manuel Kant, came through a most searching 
process of reasoning to the conclusion that there 
ought to be a final judgment. And do not our own 
hearts testify to the fairness of it? Christ put great 
emphasis on this teaching (Matt. 3:12, 8:12, 
25:41; Mk. 9:44-46). Beyond all these we sug- 
gest these reasons for believing in a final judgment. 

1. Within ourselves we find a voice of approval 
or disapproval of our ways. ‘“ If our hearts con- 
demn us, God is greater than our hearts, and know- 
eth all things ” (I Jn. 3:21). 

2. Misunderstandings and false accusations in 
this life ought to be cleared. Because of prevailing 
ignorance and sin they could not be perfectly 
cleared here on earth. None but God, Who knows 
the end from the beginning and before Whom our 
thoughts are exposed, is able to pronounce a right- 
eous judgment. 

3. Untold abuse and misdemeanor has been and 
is still being committed on earth without due pun- 
ishment upon the perpetrator; who is likely to gloat 
over his wicked triumphs. On the other hand there 
are so many noble deeds that have remained hid 
from human eyes without the slightest recognition. 
In fact, the noblest deeds are those that never come 
before the public. The loyal spirit that motivated 
these great deeds ought to be recognized some day. 


212 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


4. The whole trend of our own lives, the events of 
history, and the teachings of the Bible, culminating 
in the words of Christ, bear witness to a final judg- 
ment. There would be something inexplicable lack- 
ing if no such judgment were to be expected. 


Eternal Punishment 


In view of the love which parents bear toward 
their children, the thought of eternal punishment 
is likely to awaken a feeling of revulsion. “ What 
father,” some are sure to remark, “ would be so 
hard-hearted as to condemn his own children to 
never-ending punishment?” Such a natural feel- 
ing should not be lightly set aside. There can be 
no question but that the infinite Father is far more 
merciful than are His finite children. It were fool- 
ish for us to attempt pronunciations on so truly 
awful a subject. Nevertheless, it is ours to consider 
the facts as they are before us. 

1. Every sin, whether committed by God’s chil- 
dren or by out-and-out sinners, carries within itself 
eternal punishment. Even when God forgives that 
sin, its punishment is not thereby set aside. This 
punishment makes itself felt in two ways. First, 
the soul that sins suffers deterioration. Instead of 
growing in grace, as a good Father intended, sin 
results in a soul’s going backward in grace. The 
soul that sins does not gain capacity; it loses 
capacity. This deterioration will tell on the soul 
through all the eternities. Some will at last be 








LIFE EVERLASTING 213 


saved, so as by fire. Their works cannot follow 
with them; but are burned away like hay and stub- 
ble. They themselves will be less capable of en- 
joying the glories of heaven and gaining a knowl- 
edge of God than if they had not committed those 
sins. Second, in this life, also, sin finds us out. It 
effects the body; it hurts the mind; it thwarts our 
relationships. David found forgiveness with God 
for the terrible crimes he had committed. His 
heart was perfectly cleansed. But this did not 
deter the messenger of divine mercy from saying 
in the name of God, “‘ The sword shall not depart 
from thine house ” (II Sam. 12:10, 13,14). From 
that day forward the sorrows of David began 
within his own family. But if this be true of the 
child of God, how much more of the sinner who 
seeks no forgiveness! Daily he disqualifies himself 
more certainly for heaven. 

2. There is a general misunderstanding regard- 
ing the sinner’s relationship to God. Jesus makes 
it very clear that those who will not accept Him 
as their Saviour may not safely consider themselves 
God’s children (Jn. 8:41-44). The cause of this 
losing of the claims of childhood lies not with God 
but with the sinner. He denies the fatherhood of 
God by his sinful ways. He seeks no divine friend- 
ship. He breaks whatever threads might still 
feebly hold him to God. To deny divine childhood 
by his actions and then to claim it with his lips is 
contradictory. 


214 “THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


3. There is an all-sufficient Saviour from sin, 
who will bring back into childhood those who let 
Him, and through whom the punishment from sin 
in future life may be averted. Whoever here on 
earth rejects this gracious offer, shuts himself away 
from the mercies of God; he tramples under foot 
the precious blood.of Christ (Heb. 10:29). As for 
those who have never heard the Gospel, there are 
among them such as have persistently sought if 
haply they might find Him (Acts 17:27). It seems 
impossible to think of these as lost. It appears 
both from the Scriptures (Acts 10:35), and from 
the information we may gather from daily life, that 
God’s Spirit knocks at every human heart; so that 
none who fail to feel after Him are wholly free 
from the sin of negligence (Rom. 1:21). 

4. The time of probation is here and now. 
“To-day if ye will hear my voice, harden not your 
heart ” (Heb. 3:15). There is not found in all the 
Scriptures one single encouragement for belief in 
Saving repentance in the future life. ‘‘ Where the 
tree falls there it shall lie” (Eccl. 11:3). The per- 
son who sins does not sin from compulsion, as many 
modern psychologists and criminal lawyers would 
have it; he sins from his own free choice. They, 
who sin, do consciously reject the good and accept 
the evil. Hard as it may sound, it is as true as the 
Word of God that they are deserving of punish- 
ment. In this condemnation we all are included; 





LIFE EVERLASTING 215 


but through Christ we may escape. This is the first 
meaning of salvation in Christ. 

5. There is another side. ‘‘ The just shall live 
by faith.” Those who have accepted Christ shall 
stand at His right hand, as clear from punishment 
as if they had never sinned. Instead of punishment 
they shall receive reward. That reward will not be 
eternal life; for Christ has earned that for them; 
it is given them as an act of grace. Their reward 
shall be eternal joy for having served. Souls 
brought to Christ through them will be the fruits 
of their labor. Lives to which on earth they min- 
istered in some form, will be surrounding them. 
That for which they never received payment will 
_ be their glory; while that for which they were once 
paid will sink into insignificance. They laid up 
treasures in heaven. ‘“ Well done, good and faith- 
ful servants,’ will sound to their ears as the choic- 
est of music. The ideals on which they started on 
earth will be continued toward perfection. The fel- 
lowship of Christ and of all the saints,—all these 
will be their reward. 


Reunion of Soul and Body 


To be a human being means to be soul and body, 
and not simply soul alone. The redeemed who now 
rejoice before the throne of God are souls, and not 
human beings in our sense of the word. Their joy 
will not be perfect until soul and body once more 
form a union (I Cor. 15:54). For this reason the 


216 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED ” 


work of Christ was not complete when He had con- 
quered Satan; He must conquer death. He arose 
from the grave. To the disciples He appeared for 
forty days in His divine-human personality; which 
showed the wondering brethren a spiritualized 
body. It was not the same body which Joseph and 
Nicodemus had laid away in the tomb, although 
that tomb had been emptied. As the stalk of wheat 
differs from the grain of wheat that was buried in 
the earth, so did that glorified body differ from the 
body that had suffered on the Cross (I Cor. 15:37, 
38). Lest we lose ourselves in a labyrinth of fan- 
cies and speculations, let us again abide by the 
facts. 

1. As Jesus Christ arose from the dead, not only 
as a living soul, but as a complete human being, 
soul and body, so shall we arise from the dead (I 
Con rho 220). 

2. As Jesus Christ arose in a spiritualized body, 
so shall we be clothed again in a spiritualized body. 
There is no need, therefore, of fear regarding the 
assimilation of the fleshen body by animals; for 
that body is at death forever laid aside. It may 
return to dust; it may be petrified; it may be de- 
voured by worms or beasts. We do not need it 
any more. It should be observed, at the same time, 
that Jesus showed His disciples His hands and His 
feet, with the prints of the nails. The new, spir- 
itualized body will bear resemblance to the old 


LIFE EVERLASTING Q17 


body, in so far as such resemblance will enhance 
the glory of eternal life. 

3. The new body shall be our perfect medium 
for service and spiritual fellowship. Body and soul 
shall be perfect helpers to each other (Rev. 
7:14-17). 


Heaven and Hell 


Where Christ is there is heaven. To be in the 
conscious and immediate presence of Christ is to 
be in heaven. It is obvious, then, that heaven be- 
gins on earth. Here in this life we may sit with 
Christ in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6). Enoch, 
Abraham, and Moses enjoyed that fellowship. 
Since the Son of God became man the privilege is 
much more general. “ Lo, [am with you alway.” 

Where Christ is not there is hell. This is true 
here on earth. Hell starts here, too. To live with- 
out God and without hope is the essence of hell. 
To follow the desires of the body, while in this body 
there dwells the likeness of God, this, too, is hell. 

In the final abode of the lost, the absence of God 
and all that is good, shall be eternal death. Even 
the general graces which are now poured out upon 
a world which God made and which He loves, shall 
there be lacking. The presence of God’s children, 
on account of whom sin always has been restrained, 
will then also be missing. Evil shall then hold its 
complete and terrible sway over its victims with 
nothing to ameliorate its hurtful influence. Like a 


218 “ THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED” 


great breath of fire it shall eat into the souls of the 
lost. Memories will call back evils committed, 
without repentance. ‘Those who once heard the 
good tidings of peace, but took no heed, will rue 
their neglect; but will find no place for repentance. 
The story of Esau and of Judas affords us an ink- 
ling of what hell shall forever mean. 

In heaven the loftiest conditions of this life shall 
find perfection. The complete absence of sin and 
the never-ceasing presence of Christ, enjoyed by 
the whole family of the redeemed, will introduce 
us to a state of perfect bliss. We shall be heirs of 
God and joint-heirs with Christ Jesus, ever growing 
in the friendship and the likeness of our Lord. 


SUGGESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 


1. Ask for the assigned memory passages and dis- 
cuss them. Ask for first lines of hymns that present 
similar teachings. 

2. Allow members who were present at seances, or 
who have immediate intelligence regarding them, to 
give their views and experiences. Be ready for some- 
one who will pop up with the story of Saul, the witch 
of Endor and the appearance of Samuel. You will 
understand, of course, that there is nothing in that 
narrative which you are obliged to defend or refute. 

3. If anyone indulges in telepathic experiments, 
allow presentation of that; but limit time beforehand 
for all these. 

4. There are remarkable deathbed scenes; let then 
be discussed. 

5. Make clear that the unseen world is by its 
nature not visible or tangible. 

6. Let members mention ideals they have not 


LIFE EVERLASTING 219 


reached, but which may be more perfectly reached 
hereafter. 

7. Consider the effects our views of the hereafter 
must inevitably have on this life. Trace these to 
actual incidents. 

8. Discuss rewards and punishments in their many 
phases. Some will hold that every sin brings suff- 
cient punishment on earth. Make sure that God re- 
ceives consideration. 

9. Close with a consideration of Christ among us 
now, as Friend and daily Companion. 


For Further Research 

The Assurance of Immortality, Ch. II], H. E. Fos- 
dick. 

The Christian Hope, Ch. XJ, XII, XIII, William 
Adams Brown. 

Personality, the Christian Ideal, Ch. XVIII, John 
Wright Buckham. 

The Christian’s God, Part IV, Section I, IV, Wil- 
liam Burton. 

Reading day by day: Rom. 8:10-14; Jn. 14: 1-6; 
Pan2e24-29; fejne 5211-20; Rey) 21222 3) 1, Cor. 
15: 35-49. 

In case a thirteenth class-period is required, this 
will naturally be devoted to a written test on these 
lessons, or to a verbal preparation for such a test. 


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A study of ‘‘new”’ psychology, its relation to and bearing 
on the evangelical Christian faith. A work of unusual in- 
terest in which is ably demonstrated that the faith which 
accepts and relies on the incoming of a Higher Power in 
the person and spirit of Jesus Christ, has nothing to 
fear from the findings of the modern psychologist. 


CONSTANCE L. MAYNARD 
The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like... 


FN 

p1.2 

An engaging and engrossing book written by a cultured, 

deeply devotional teacher possessed of a simplicity of style 

connoting authentic scholarship. Miss Maynard addresses 

herself to the task of rendering the primary truths of 

religion the more real and attractive by an appeal to 
the witness of nature. 


PHILO W_ SPRAGUE 


The Influence of Christianity on 


Fundamental Human Institutions 


The Bohlen Lectures, 1924. $1.50 

A four-fold discussion of the position that the Gospel 
of Jesus Christ is a system of belief which is intended to 
express itself, not only in individual conduct and chare 
acter, but in fundamental human institutions, Mr. Sprague 
ably considers its application to the Church, the Famuly, 
the State, and the Industrial System. 


W. J FARLEY, M.A., B.D. 


The Progress of Old Testament 


Prophecy 
In the Light of Modern Scholarship. With two 


appendices, chronological table and index. $2.00. 

“This book is to be welcomed. Mr. Farley has packed 
a vast amount of information into his pages. Ministers 
and teachers who want a short review of the Prophets 
will find it here, set forth in a straight-forward and vig- 
orous fashion.”’—The British Weekly. 


RT REVI GRIELE Late Bishop of Liverpoal 
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels 


Seven volumes. New Popular Edition. 
7 vols., each $1.50; the set $8.50 net 
“Ryle is thoroughly evangelical, clear-sighted as to prin- 
ciple and an utter enemy of cant and shams of every 
kind.”—Southwestern Presbyterian, 
MATTHEW MARK LUKE Vou.I LUKE Vo. II 
JOHN Vow I JOHN Vor, Il JOHN Vor, iil 


BIBLE STUDY 
ne er a 


I, M. HALDEMAN, D.D. 


How to Study the Bible 


The Second Coming and Other Expositions. 


New Ninth Edition. $2.00 
Out of the experience of a full and faithful ministr 
Dr. Haldeman enlarres on a number of principles which 
make for an intelligent and satisfactory study of the Bible. 
Special attention is given by Dr. Haldeman to Dispensa- 
tional Truth of which he is one of the foremost protago- 
nists of the day. With Dispensational Chart in Colors. 


I, M. HALDEMAN, _D.D. 


The Tabernacle Priesthood and 
Offerings IWustrated, $2.50 


With great wealth of detail, Dr. Haldeman shows how 
the framework, the coverings, the curtains, the hangings, 
the priesthood, the robes and the offerings of the Taber- 
nacle in the wilderness prefigured the Person, the work 
and the glory of Christ. 


J. C. MASSEE, D.D. 


Eternal Life in Action 
An Exposition of the First Epistle of John. $1.50 


“A very helpful and spiritual exposition of the First 
Epistle of John. A series of delightfully prepared dis- 
courses, richly illustrated and easy to read. Any one who 
loves to think along the lines of Christian truth and thought 
will be delighted to read them.” —Herald and Presbyter. 


KiwAw TORREY, Did. 


cide eA EO pk ee 
Getting the Gold Out of the Word 
of God Paper Special Net, 35c 


Bible study made easy under eleven “Key’’ suggestions: 
SDarty, os Yetematically,? “Comprehensively,”’ ‘‘Consec- 
utively,” “Comparatively,” ‘‘Topically,’ ‘‘Attentively,” 
“Believingly,” “Obediently,’”’ “‘Prayerfully.” 


R. A. TORREY, D.D. 


The Bible, The Peerless Book 
Paper, Special Net, 35¢ 
Here is a mine, a treasure-house, a guide, and a source 
of inspiration. The work of a man who is as well rooted 
and grounded in the Holy Scripture as any man alive. 


JAMES H. BROOKES, D.D. 


An Outline of the Books of the Bible 


A Re-issue of a Well-known Book. $1.00 
One of the most helpful books on the complete Bible ever 
issued in compact form, It presents in brief outline the 
principal design, together with the character and ti 
ing of each of the sixty-six books of the Bible. 


EVANGELISTIC WORK 
_ommemrenenn ncn eee octamer rn ERE DERE 


DAN _A. POLING, D.D. President U. S. GC. Be 


An Adventure in Evangelism 
A Story of “Twice-Korn Men’ on “The 


Avenue.” $1.50 

It is a strong, fearless, Gospel message, through which 
men of all grades, merchants and outcasts alike, have been 
brought to God. It details the plan and method and 
tells the story of five years growing success, and includes 
a variety of themes of a most alluring order, all bearing 
on the central objective of saving souls, 


R. A. TORREY, D.D. 


Soul-Winning Sermons 
A Large Octavo Volume, 484 Pages, Cloth, $4.00 


“Thank God for these great soul-stirring sermons. Dr. 
Torrey has put in their logical order his complete cycle 
of sermons which have been most used in bringing 
definite men and women to a definite acceptance of Jesus 
Christ as their Saviour. Every sermon is a model of 
logical thinking, homiletical arrangement, clearness of 
style and topical analysis.” —Baptist and Reflector. 


LOUIS ALBERT BANKS, D.D. 


Christ’s Soul-Searching Parables 
Eangelistic Addresses. $1.50 


Dr. Banks’ name and fame as a lucid and picturesque 
writer of inspirational books, has long ago been firmly estab- 
lished. He shows ,no falling-off in his latest work. From 
the matchless stories which fell from the lips of Jesus, he 
draws lessons for the spiritual guidance, enheartenment 
and consolation of his fellow-believers. 


4A. EARL KERNAHAN, D.D. 


Visitation Evangelism 
ts Methods and Results. Introduction by 
Bishop Edwin H. Hughes. $1.25 


“A book of unusual values based, not only on theo- 
retical premises, but on the more practical ground of 
personal experience. A manual of instruction, and an 
enheartening record of successful operation.”—Baltimore 
Southern Methodist. 


CHARLES FORBES TAYLOR 


Everlasting Salvation 
And other Addresses. $1.00 


A series of straight-from-the-shoulder addresses which 
go straight to the heart of the Christian message, and 
demonstrate the flaming character of his evangel and the 
unswerving character of his work, Mr. Taylor faces liv- 
ing issues, employing the Gospel he proclaims as a test 
of the validity of certain institutions which form an inte- 
gral part of present-day life. 


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